Information Technology Services LMU.edu
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Data Security and Privacy

STUDENTS: See disclaimer and note below

Security Guidance

  • Do NOT upload any university data to any AI systems. For public AI, no university data should be fed into it. Any data fed into the AI engine can not be deleted.
  • For AI models where we have control, the AI model should be regularly updated and patched to address vulnerabilities.
  • Anyone considering utilizing AI models with university data, MUST work with ITS to validate vendor, security and supportability.
  • Any data model using university data should implement robust data encryption and anonymization techniques to protect user privacy. University policies for security and privacy still apply.
  • Use Microsoft Copilot with authentication. It is PROTECTED. Learn more here.
  • Adhere to LMU Acceptable Use Policy.
  • You should never place any personal identifying information (PII) in any AI tool. Using Copilot protects confidential LMU information, whereas using other AI tools on the web may expose our private data and your personal information to the public. (Remember that LMU policies on security, privacy, and fair use still apply when using any AI tool.)

Contact the ITS Service Desk at servicedesk@lmu.edu or servicedesk@lls.edu for assistance.

When is it safe to use ChatGPT?

For more information, refer to this Quick Start Guide published by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Before using any generative AI tool, consider the following questions:

Examples of such information you should never submit to GenAI tools include:

  • Do not share information that is confidential under university policies and rules. Examples of such information you should never submit to GenAI tools include:

    • Student information
    • Personnel information
    • Information that the university has committed to keep confidential, for example, in a contract, a grant application, or a disclosure to research participants
    • Information about the university that is confidential, proprietary, or otherwise not public

    Additionally, do not share valuable intellectual property, whether it is yours, the university’s, or someone else’s. Be absolutely certain any information submitted to an AI-based model is public and does not include any sensitive or personally identifiable information - including information that could identify someone when combined with other data.

  • The owner of intellectual property is entitled to control who can copy or use that intellectual property. By submitting information to a generative AI tool, you may give up valuable rights to control who can use that intellectual property in the future. This is especially problematic if you do not own the intellectual property or do not have the right to authorize others to copy or use it (for example, if the intellectual property belongs to another institution or to a co-author or collaborator).

  • Consider whether you or the university need to own the intellectual property rights of selected materials. Materials prepared using a generative AI tool may not be eligible for intellectual property rights if there is not enough direct human involvement in their development. Not owning intellectual property rights may impact your or the university’s ability to publish, distribute, patent, or use the materials.

  • Look for tools that make it easy to find their privacy, ethics, risk, safety and accessibility policies.

Privacy policy statements from university vendors using AI

  • Privacy policy from Otter.ai’s use of OpenAI - No Customer Data will be used to train or improve OpenAI’s artificial intelligence models. OpenAI does not store Customer Data sent through the API on their platform.

  • Privacy policy from Zoom - Zoom does not use any of your audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments, or other communications like customer content (such as poll results, whiteboard, and reactions) to train Zoom’s or third-party artificial intelligence models. For more information about how Zoom AI Companion handles your data, visit our support page.

  • Privacy statement from Adobe - Adobe analyzes your content using techniques such as machine learning in order to improve our products and services. This analysis may occur as the content is uploaded, sent, received, or stored using Adobe servers. Learn more about how this works, including how to opt out in your account preferences. (https://www.adobe.com/privacy/opt-out.html)

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property laws are designed for humans, and we’re just beginning to have legal cases to help establish how we’ll protect creative work that is made with the use of AI tools.

Free generative AI tools assume that you are giving your prompts and inputs to them in return for the use of their tool. Use them with the assumption that all of what you give them and create with them is public.

Submitting content to a Generative AI tool and third party companies.

Generative AI tools learn through their interactions with users. For that reason, many generative AI tools require you to agree that they can keep the information you submit for future use, including by providing it to other users. This is especially true for free generative AI tools.

Do not share information that is confidential under university policies and rules.

Examples include:

  • Student information
  • Personnel information
  • Information that the university has promised to keep confidential, for example, in a contract, a grant application, or a disclosure to research participants
  • Information about the university that is confidential, proprietary, or otherwise not public

Do not share valuable intellectual property, whether it is yours, the university’s, or someone else’s.

The owner of intellectual property is entitled to control over who can copy or use that intellectual property. By submitting information to a generative AI tool, you may give up valuable rights to control over who can use that intellectual property in the future. This is especially problematic if you do not own the intellectual property or do not have the right to authorize others to copy or use it (for example, if the intellectual property belongs to another institution, or to a co-author or collaborator).

Be absolutely certain any information submitted to an AI-based model is public and does not include any sensitive or personally identifiable information - including information that could identify someone when combined with other data.

Disclaimer: This website does not endorse the use of AI in teaching and learning at LMU. Faculty decide their policies related to technology in their courses and reserve the right to consider the unauthorized use of AI to be a breach of the university’s Academic Honesty Policy. Students should always consult their faculty for the specific course policies related to the use of AI. Sanctions for violations of the Academic Honesty Policy may include failure for the assignment, the course, academic probation, suspension, or dismissal from the university. For more information, visit LMU's Academic Honesty website.

NOTE: This webpage has not been reviewed by any standing university committees for alignment with university policy, academic freedom, or the faculty role in shared governance. It will undergo a comprehensive review in Fall 2024.