Detecting and Protecting Sensitive PII & Trade Secrets with AI

AI applications and tools generate and process large amounts of data daily, including PII and sensitive organizational data. The collection and processing of sensitive data causes significant concerns when it comes to the safety and security of individuals and enterprises.

Throughout this guide, we will delve deeper into the topic of sensitive PII and trade secrets, exploring potential risks that AI poses. Also, we will cover efficiency strategies and practices for protecting PII and trade secrets data from AI tools. So, let’s dive into it.

What are PII Data and Trade Secrets?

Before diving further into the article, let’s clarify the definitions of PII and Trade Secrets. PII stands for personally identifiable information such as names, addresses, social security numbers, payment card details, and biometric data. Third parties that gain access to this information can pose significant security risks for an individual.

Trade Secrets are commercially valuable secrets like company financials, product plans, and customer and personnel data that are kept from public access by using confidentiality agreements, passwords, or, in some cases, physical security. Trade secrets must be well kept and secured from public access to avoid costly consequences for the organization.

PII Data and Trade Secrets in AI Applications: Challenges and Risks

To understand the full picture, let’s overview the main security threats and risks AI poses to individuals and organizations. However, keep in mind that most of these risks can be mitigated with a few strategies discussed later on in the guide.

Data Privacy Risks

Data privacy regulations include GDPR and CCPA (internationally recognized standards). To ensure that your company complies with these regulations, you must responsibly use AI tools to protect the sensitive PII information of your customers and your organization’s trade secrets.

Using open AI tools poses significant risks to data privacy, which can damage your business’s reputation.

Unauthorized Access Risks

To understand what risks AI poses for trade secrets and PII data, let’s understand how the popular AI assistant ChatGPT works. ChatGPT is free to use; the users simply need to type in the prompt. However, ChatGPT does not guarantee data confidentiality. This means that the information users share in the prompt can be stored and accessed by OpenAI and used for retraining its models.

For instance, a large enterprise banned the use of ChatGPT after an employee asked the tool to summarize private meeting notes. In this case, another employee from the same company asked the tool to fix errors in their proprietary code. These actions could result in significant losses to the company if the data leaked or was accessed by third parties. Thus, the company took the extreme measure of banning the use of AI.

Biases and Unethical Usage Risks

A significant risk associated with AI is the risk of data being misused. Not all AI tools maintain a transparent and responsible approach when it comes to handling Personally Identifiable Information. It can result in sensitive information potentially being exposed to breaches and misuse.

Another risk associated with the use of AI tools is biases in AI algorithms. For instance, if the AI algorithms are not curated and trained, they can inherit biases in the data, leading to unfair and false outcomes. For instance, a famous case was Amazon’s algorithm discrimination against women. Amazon’s automated recruitment system evaluates applicants based on suitability for different roles available within the company. However, during the process, the system became biased toward women and rated their CVs for technical roles lower than male applicants. This was happening as according to the data in 2020 women accounted for less than a quarter of technical roles across industries.

How to Protect PII Data in AI Applications?

As far as we are clear on the risks for PII data and trade secrets associated with using AI, it is time to delve into practical strategies to mitigate these risks.

Implement a Data Classification Strategy

If the enterprise plans to use generative AI tools for better efficiency, it is important to identify what data is safe to use and what data should not be used (inputted into the AI system). Thus, there is a need to implement a systematic data classification. With systematic classification, data regarding PII and trade secrets will be tagged based on the value for the organization, making it clear what can and cannot be inputted into the AI assistant.

Train and Educate Employees on Shadow IT

When it comes to AI, employees can use different tools. Some of these tools can be approved by the organization, while others not. The tools not approved or managed by the organization are called “Shadow IT.” Shadow IT systems lack managerial oversight and are usually not in alignment with compliance policies.

To eliminate the risks that AI tools pose to PII and trade secrets, you should develop clear policies on the use of AI. For instance, you can develop a guidebook highlighting tools that are allowed to be used. Also, include tools that are not allowed to be used. This way, employees will be aware of and educated on shadow IT and will avoid using tools that pose risks to the enterprise’s sensitive data.

Set and Practice Generative AI Usage Policies

Besides highlighting tools employees can and cannot use, make sure to develop a formal policy on approved and prohibited AI use cases. A formal policy will prevent risks associated with data breaches, misuse, and trade secret exposure to third parties.

Use the Right Technology to Protect Personal and Enterprise Identity

To protect PII and Trade Secrets effectively while leveraging the power of AI for better operational efficiency, you can use security software solutions. One of the best tools to protect data and privacy while experiencing conversational AI is Wald.

Wald is a software solution providing secure access to tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, DalleE, Llama, and others. With this platform, you can ask queries, generate code, and much more securely. The main features that guarantee data privacy are intelligent data substitutions, customer-supplied encryption keys, and personal/enterprise identity anonymization.

Protect Your PII with Wald

If you are looking for the ideal tool to protect the PII of your customers and the sensitive data of your organization, then you are in the right place. Wald.ai is a robust software-as-a-service solution offering all the features employees need to securely access and use AI assistants.

With Wald AI, you can increase employee productivity while ensuring data privacy. The features range from custom data retention policy development to intelligent data substitutions.

Contact us to find out more about how we can help you protect sensitive data and PII while leveraging the power of AI within your organization.