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   [This is not really new.  It has been going on ever since we started moving   
   more and more of our lives online. -- Mike]   
      
   Convenience over privacy? Nearly one in three Brits sharing confidential   
   information with AI chatbots   
      
   Date:   
   Fri, 18 Jul 2025 08:00:00 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   New data from NymVPN has shown Britons are favoring convenience when using AI   
   chatbots, despite the extensive privacy risks.   
      
   FULL STORY   
      
   Almost one in three Britons shares sensitive personal data with AI chatbots   
   like OpenAIs ChatGPT, according to research from cybersecurity company NymVPN   
   . 30% of Brits have fed AI chatbots with confidential information such as   
   health and banking data, potentially putting their privacy  and that of    
   others  at risk.    
      
   This oversharing with the likes of ChatGPT and Google Gemini comes despite    
   48% of respondents expressing privacy concerns over AI chatbots. This signals   
   that the issue extends to the workplace, with employees sharing sensitive   
   company and customer data.    
      
   NymVPNs findings come in the wake of a number of recent high-profile data   
   breaches, most notably the Marks & Spencer cyber attack , which shows just    
   how easily confidential data can fall into the wrong hands.   
      
   Convenience is being prioritized over security   
      
   NymVPNs research reveals that 26% of respondents admitted to disclosing   
   financial information related to salary, investments, and mortgages to AI   
   chatbots. Riskier still, 18% shared credit card or bank account data.    
      
   24% of those surveyed by NymVPN admit to having shared customer data   
   including names and email addresses  with AI chatbots. More worrying still,   
   16% uploaded company financial data and internal documents such as contracts.   
   This is despite 43% expressing worry about sensitive company data being    
   leaked by AI tools.    
      
   AI tools have rapidly become part of how people work, but were seeing a   
   worrying trend where convenience is being prioritized over security, said   
   Harry Halpin, CEO of NymVPN.    
      
   M&S, Co-op , and Adidas have all been in the headlines for the wrong reasons,   
   having fallen victim to data breaches. High-profile breaches show how   
   vulnerable even major organizations can be, and the more personal and   
   corporate data that is fed into AI, the bigger the target becomes for   
   cybercriminals, said Halpin.   
      
   The importance of not oversharing    
      
   Since nearly a quarter of respondents share customer data with AI chatbots,   
   this emphasizes the urgency of companies implementing clear guidelines and   
   formal policies for the use of AI in the workplace.    
      
   Employees and businesses urgently need to think about how theyre protecting   
   both personal privacy and company data when using AI tools, said Halpin.    
      
   Although avoiding AI chatbots entirely would be the optimal solution for   
   privacy, its not always the most practical. Users should, at the very least,   
   avoid sharing sensitive information with AI chatbots. Privacy settings can   
   also be tweaked, such as disabling chat history or opting out of model   
   training.    
      
   A VPN can add a layer of privacy when using AI chatbots such as ChatGPT,   
   encrypting a users internet traffic and original IP address. This helps keep    
   a users location private and prevents their ISP from seeing what theyre doing   
   online. Still, even the best VPN isnt enough if sensitive personal data is   
   still being fed to AI.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/convenience-over-privacy-ne   
   arly-one-in-three-brits-sharing-confidential-information-with-ai-chatbots   
      
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