Data Security and Privacy
Anything you feed into an external AI tool, actively or passively, may be stored by the company indefinitely and used in ways you can't verify. That has three consequences:
1. Be critical about what data you share with a tool.
2. Think critically about which tool you use, as terms and conditions on data differ .
3. Consider how you use the tool — local use, audio/visual use, whether you create an account.
Here is an overview of data that should never be uploaded into GenAI tools:
Source: Brighspace Generative AI literacy for WUR researchers
When to be especially careful
· Institutional agreements. Some databases, chair groups, and internship companies do not allow their data to be shared with AI tools, as it may breach agreements with project financiers or infringe intellectual property. See Personal data protection regulations WUR and Data policy at WUR.
· Personal data. When working with personal data, be conscious of what counts as personal data and what you may share. Often you can still use AI after thorough anonymisation and data minimisation.
Anonymisation in practice
Suppose you want to analyse the satisfaction of students per study programme, starting from a dataset like this:
| Student ID | Name | Birth date | Address | BSc Programme | Study year | Satisfaction | |
| 12345 | A.I. Education | 15-4-2002 | (email) | Droevendaalsesteeg 4, 6708PB | Artificial Intelligence | 1 | 10 |
By removing identifying information and keeping only what the analysis actually needs, you're left with:
| Participant code | Var2 | Var3 |
| 001 | A | 10 |
Without the key to the codes, it's impossible to trace the data back to an individual, so this version is far safer to work with.
· Copyright.
Always respect copyright and others' intellectual property. Never upload copyright-protected material into an AI tool as this can have serious consequences. For more information go to WUR's Copyright Information Point.
Prefer sharing a link to a paper over uploading the PDF. Uploading a copy of a copyright-protected work into an AI tool can infringe copyright, whereas linking to the publisher's page avoids putting the file itself into the tool. Bear in mind, though, that access is not the same as permission: an openly readable paper is not necessarily cleared for AI use. Moreover, the tool won't be able to open anything behind a paywall or login requirement.