# Profession Ethics One-Pagers

Confidentiality and ethics rules for AI use. Read the universal rules, then your profession's page. Rules and guidance change — date your answers and re-check quarterly.

## Universal rules — everyone

1. **Never paste anything you couldn't email to a stranger.** SSNs, dates of birth, addresses, account numbers, health and financial details, names tied to sensitive facts. Replace identifiers with placeholders: [CLIENT A], [STUDENT 1].
2. **Know your tool's data setting.** Some consumer tools may use inputs for training; most business tiers do not. My tool: [TOOL]. Trains on my inputs: [YES / NO / UNKNOWN — checked DATE]. Unknown means treat it as yes.
3. **Disclosure default.** If you would be uncomfortable telling the recipient that AI helped, change the workflow or be ready to disclose.

## Attorneys

ABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) ties AI use to your duties of competence, confidentiality, communication, and reasonable fees. Your prompts can carry client confidences — Rule 1.6 applies to what you paste. Many state bars have issued their own guidance. Mine: [STATE BAR GUIDANCE + DATE CHECKED].

- Never put client-identifying facts in a consumer tool
- Verify every citation at the source — lawyers have been sanctioned for filing AI-fabricated cases (Mata v. Avianca, 2023, and others since)
- Consider whether client consent is needed before client data touches any AI tool: [FIRM POLICY]

## Accountants and bookkeepers

IRC 7216 restricts use and disclosure of tax return information; pasting client return data into a third-party tool can qualify as disclosure, with criminal exposure.

- Strip client identifiers before prompting; use placeholder entities
- Rates and thresholds go stale: verify deductions, mileage, and limits against IRS.gov for the tax year, every time
- Firm or AICPA-aligned policy on AI tools: [POLICY + DATE]

## Teachers and ex-teachers

FERPA habits carry over: no student names, IDs, grades, or IEP details in prompts — and if you have changed careers, apply the same instinct to your new employer's data.

- District or employer AI policy: [POLICY + DATE]
- AI-generated materials: verify reading level, standards alignment, and every quotation — models invent and misattribute quotes
- Parent-facing text gets the full Verification Protocol

## Military spouse freelancers

Your client contracts likely bar sharing client material with third parties. An AI tool is a third party.

- Per client: [CLIENT] NDA allows AI tools: [YES / NO / ASK]
- If the contract promises original work, clarify in writing whether AI assistance is acceptable
- Never pair installation or sponsor details with personal information in any prompt

## Nonprofit staff

Funders are forming AI policies, and some now ask whether submissions were AI-assisted. A fabricated statistic found by a program officer costs trust you cannot buy back.

- Per funder: [FUNDER] AI policy: [POLICY / NONE FOUND + DATE]
- Every statistic in a proposal traces to a named, current source
- Donor data is PII — never paste donor lists or giving histories

## Veterans in transition

Your DD-214, claims file, and medical records are PII. Excerpt and redact; never paste them whole.

- Benefit rules and rates (GI Bill, VR&E, disability) change — verify on VA.gov, not from the model's memory
- For federal applications, check agency guidance on AI-assisted writing: [AGENCY GUIDANCE + DATE]
- Treat anything OPSEC-adjacent as off-limits in any tool

Part of the ADAPT framework — vetslearn.com/framework