One rule lets you relax and start using AI without worrying you have done something wrong. Sort what you are about to share into three colors.
Green, share freely with any approved tool. Public information, non-confidential reference, anything you would be comfortable sending to a client.
Yellow, Copilot only. Internal documents, product data, financials, anything with personal information about employees or customers. Work Copilot runs under our controls. Public ChatGPT and consumer Microsoft Copilot do not.
Yellow is not "Copilot can put this in any draft." If you have Microsoft 365 Copilot with Work IQ on, it may use files, mail, and meetings you can already open. Before you send, ask whether you would forward those sources to this audience. If no, turn Work IQ off, attach only the files that belong, or skip AI for that send.
Red, never put it in any AI tool. Customer personal information without approval, unreleased pricing or product details, legal documents that have not been reviewed.
EU colleagues: MillerKnoll still owes you literacy and prohibited-use guidance (EU AI Act Article 4 is a duty on the organization, not a certificate you earn here). This lesson is the practical floor. Legal maps deployer status. When you are unsure, treat it as confidential. Use work Copilot carefully, or do not use AI for it at all.
Check yourself
"When unsure, treat it as confidential" is the rule. That means work Copilot only, with Work IQ hygiene, or skip AI entirely. Yellow stays out of public chatbots. It also stays out of a client or vendor draft if you would not forward the source file. The default is caution, not permission.
Before you go
Unsure? Treat it as confidential. Work Copilot only, and do not let Work IQ mix a file into a draft for someone who should not see it.
Did you run this in Copilot? Mark complete when you have tried it.
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