The useful result
Produce a redacted version of a document and a local map to restore the real details.
- Produce a redacted version of a document and a local map to restore the real details.
A contract, a CV, a customer list or a medical letter can all be improved by an assistant, and all contain things you may not want on someone else’s servers. OpenAI’s help pages explain data controls and Temporary Chat, which stays out of history, does not create memories and is not used to improve models while it remains temporary, though a copy may be kept for up to 30 days for safety.
Settings help, but the strongest protection is not sending the secret at all. Redaction means swapping private details for placeholders before you paste, then swapping them back on your own device. It takes ten minutes and works with any tool.
The examples below are illustrative exercises, not recorded results from any tool. Sources were checked on 24 October 2026; menus, limits and prices change, so confirm details on the linked pages.
Before you start
- A document you want help with
- A text editor with find and replace
- The data controls page of the tool you use
Review evidence
Documentation-based review · 2026-10-24
Primary documentation and official guidance checked on 24 October 2026. Examples, checks and exercises are original illustrations, not recorded tool tests. Cover artwork is a conceptual illustration.
List what is sensitive and what the task really needs
Scan the document for names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, account and ID numbers, health details, client names, internal figures and credentials. Then decide what the task actually needs. Improving the tone of a letter needs none of the identifiers, while summarising a contract may need clause text but not the party names.
Check your result
You have a list of sensitive items and a note of which ones the task truly needs.
Swap details for consistent placeholders and keep the map
Use find and replace to turn each sensitive item into a placeholder such as [PERSON_A], [COMPANY_1] or [ACCOUNT_1], using the same placeholder every time. Keep a local table of placeholder and real value, and never paste that table into the AI tool.
The text below has had private details replaced by placeholders such as [PERSON_A] and [COMPANY_1]. Keep the placeholders exactly as written. Do not guess or invent the real values. Task: [what you want done]. Text:
[paste redacted text]Example / expected result
Illustrative example; not a recorded model result.
“Dear Ms Rivera” becomes “Dear [PERSON_A]”; “Account 4455-1209” becomes “Account [ACCOUNT_1]”.
Check your result
Each sensitive item has one placeholder, and the map exists only on your device.
Check the redaction, paste, then restore locally
Search the redacted text for “@”, long digit runs, capitalised words and any remaining company names. For what is still sensitive, use Temporary Chat or settings that limit training, understanding that retention rules still apply. After the answer comes back, swap the placeholders back on your own device.
Check your result
Your searches find no private details, and the final document has the real names restored locally.
When it goes wrong
Redaction can leak through context: a job title plus a town may identify a person. Images and scanned pages hide text, so check them too. Workplaces may ban pasting company data into outside tools at all, so follow your policy first.
Make it your own
Redact a fictional two-paragraph letter containing three names, an address and an account number. Ask an assistant to improve its tone, then restore the details yourself.
Useful next resources
Sources and review
Last checked Oct 24, 2026. Features and account limits can change. Verify important results against your original material.
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