Catalogue your documents and apply an AI Safe-Use formula

Before you can protect your data or use it safely with AI, you need a clear picture of what you have and where it lives. Most small and mid-sized businesses are sitting on years of shared folders, email attachments, and cloud drives—without a reliable map of which files are sensitive, who can access them, or how they’re being used.

Small businesses and agencies want to tap into the power of AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot, but worry about exposing sensitive information. Our document inventory tool gives you a clear, practical starting point for managing your documents more safely with AI, so you can move from “we have no idea what’s out there” to “we know what’s safe, what needs care, and what must never leave our environment.”

📌 Key Takeaway: You can’t protect, or safely share, what you can’t see. A basic inventory is the first step toward responsible AI use and stronger cybersecurity.

A starting point — not the final answer

Access with Data Inventory Stoplight Tool here: Document Inventory + Stoplight — Version 2 · Sunshine AI

This document inventory tool is intentionally designed to be simple. It’s a starting point, not a permanent solution. As your use of AI grows, you’ll need deeper policies, automation, and stronger security controls.

At IT Works Co., as part of it’s ongoing Cybersecure program, we go a step further: Our team scans your environment, locates the documents that contain PII, and helps you classify and secure them properly.

If you’re not a client yet, you can still take a meaningful first step. We’ve built this small, practical tool you can use on your own to:

• Identify your main document types (contracts, HR files, client records, marketing assets, and more)

• Catalogue where those documents live across shared drives and cloud storage

• Flag each category under the traffic light framework—green, yellow, or red—so you know how to handle it with AI

💡 Pro Tip: Start by tagging a few key folders—like HR, Finance, and client projects—before trying to categorize everything at once.

As you advance, you may need some help

When you’re ready to move beyond spreadsheets and simple frameworks, we can help you organize, protect, and confidently leverage your information. But even on day one, this lightweight inventory tool gives you something you probably don’t have today: a clear, shared map of what’s safe, what needs care, and what must never leave your environment—especially when AI tools are involved.

Discover what you can safely share with AI

The Document Inventory Tool also applies a simple traffic light framework to your catalogue of files so you can know if those files are safe to share with AI tools.

You’re guided through a simple traffic light framework so you can quickly think about the risk and decide what to send to AI tools:

· Green: Public or low-risk files that can be safely used with AI tools for small businesses.

· Yellow: Internal documents that may need redaction, sanitization, or prior review before sharing with AI.

· Red: Highly sensitive data—like PII, financial records, or regulated information—that should never be sent to AI tools.

This approach helps busy teams quickly sort existing files, improve file organization, and decide what can be used safely with AI. You end up with a simple, visual map of your information: what’s safe to use, what needs extra care, and what must stay locked down inside your environment.