AI tools can save real time drafting letters, summarizing memos, and cleaning up notes. But every time you type something into one of these tools, it's worth pausing for a second and asking: should this information leave my computer at all?
This isn't about avoiding AI — it's about using it the same way you'd use any outside tool that isn't part of your housing authority's secure systems.
The Simple Rule
If you wouldn't paste it into a random public website, don't paste it into an AI tool — unless your housing authority has specifically approved that tool for that purpose.
Most free or general-purpose AI tools were not built to securely handle sensitive resident information, and depending on the tool, anything you type in could be stored, reviewed, or used in ways your housing authority hasn't approved. Treat it like sending an email to an outside company you don't have a data agreement with, because in a lot of cases, that's essentially what's happening.
What to Avoid Typing In
- Full names combined with other identifying details — a name alongside a unit number, income, or case details
- Social Security numbers
- Dates of birth
- Financial account or payment information
- Login credentials (yours or a resident's)
- Specific medical or disability information tied to an individual
- Anything from a resident's file that wouldn't be appropriate to share outside your housing authority
If you're not sure whether something counts as sensitive, treat it as sensitive. When in doubt, leave it out.
What's Usually Fine
Most day-to-day AI use doesn't actually require any of this. You can get a useful draft without ever including real resident details:
Instead of: "Write a late payment letter to Maria Gonzalez in Unit 14B, who owes $340 as of March 3rd."
Try: "Write a late payment letter for a resident who is 10 days late on rent per their lease terms. Use placeholder details like [Resident Name] and [Amount Due] that I'll fill in myself before sending."
This gets you the same quality draft, and you simply fill in the real details afterward, in your own secure system — not in the AI conversation itself.
A Note on HUD Documents and Case Files
Summarizing a general HUD memo or policy notice is generally fine — that's public guidance, not resident-specific data. But if you're working with an actual case file, inspection report, or document that contains a specific resident's information, check with your AI point-person or supervisor before uploading it anywhere, even if the task itself (like summarizing) seems harmless. The task might be fine; the tool you're using it in might not be approved for that kind of data.
If You're Not Sure
- Ask your housing authority's AI point-person or IT contact which tools are approved, and for what kinds of tasks.
- When in doubt, use placeholder information and fill in real details yourself afterward.
- Remember that "the AI already deleted it" isn't something you can verify — treat anything you type as if it could persist somewhere.
