Lesson 242 of 1455
Online Safety for Tweens: Never Share With Chatbots
Chatbots feel like trusted friends. They're not. Anything you tell them might end up in a database, an ad system, or even other people's training data. Here's the rule.
Builders · Safety & Governance · ~5 min read
Chatbots are not your friends
A chatbot will laugh at your jokes, listen to your bad day, and never get tired of you. That can feel like a friendship. It isn't. The chatbot is software running on a company's computers. What you say goes into a database — and sometimes into ad systems or training data.
The Never Share list
- Your full name (first name only is fine)
- Your home address, school name, or phone number
- Family members' names
- Passwords or anything that looks like a password
- Photos of your face or your home
- Credit card numbers (your parents' or yours)
- Health stuff a doctor shouldn't have shared without permission
Things that feel safe but aren't
Compare the options
| Feels harmless | Why it isn't |
|---|---|
| Asking for advice about a fight with a friend (named) | That conversation now has your friend's name in a database |
| Sharing your essay so the AI can edit it | Some companies use prompts to train future models |
| Sharing your schedule so AI can plan your day | Now the AI knows when nobody is at your house |
Try it: privacy audit
Open your last 10 conversations with any AI. Read each one looking for: real names, addresses, schools, photos, anything personal. Many AI apps let you delete conversations — do it for anything that crosses the Never Share list.
Key terms in this lesson
End-of-lesson quiz
Check what stuck
8 questions · Score saves to your progress.
Lesson help
Questions are best handled with a grown-up here.
For this age range, Tendril keeps freeform AI chat paused until parent/guardian consent and child-safe moderation are fully verified. Use the quiz, notes, and related lessons below, or ask a parent, guardian, teacher, or librarian to work through the question with you.
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