CEO's AI Assistant Leaked His Bank Details to Coworkers. How to Protect Yours

Shane Mac thought he'd taken the necessary precautions when he gave his AI assistant access to his bank accounts. It could review his finances, but it couldn't move his money.

Then, on October 1, the assistant posted his personal financial report in a company Slack channel.

The report included Mac's checking and savings balances, major expenses, and details about a construction project that had pushed him over his monthly spending budget.

“My heart kind of dropped,” Mac told The Wall Street Journal.^[1]

The CEO of software company XMTP Labs had created separate AI agents for his personal finances and work. He believed their access was separate, too.

It wasn't.

His coworkers could now see financial details he'd intended to keep private, and the restrictions he'd placed on his assistant had done nothing to stop it.

Thanks for subscribing!

Please check your email for your first message.

Never miss the privacy news that affects you.

Join thousands who get the latest security news, scams, and policy changes every week, right to their inbox.

Sign me up

By submitting this form you agree to receive emails from All About Cookies and to the privacy policy and terms.

How Mac's AI assistant exposed his finances

Mac created a personal finance assistant using Grok Bot in August. He called it Personal CFO and gave it read-only access to his bank accounts to monitor spending, flag suspicious transactions, and suggest savings.

The assistant was supposed to send its monthly reports to a private group chat called "My Personal Exec Team."

Instead, it posted the report in a company Slack channel called "Exec-team."

Mac's head of product spotted the message and contacted him, initially believing the report concerned company finances.

According to Mac's account to Business Insider, the problem went beyond two similarly named conversations.

Although Mac had created separate AI agents, they shared underlying connections. His financial assistant could apparently use a Slack integration associated with another agent.

As Cybernews reported, Grok Bot's documentation warned that agents operating under the same account could access shared credentials and files.

That made Mac's read-only banking permissions insufficient.

Mac deleted the Slack message and disconnected his banking, Google, calendar, Stripe, and other integrations. He said Grok Bot's developers subsequently introduced additional permission controls, although that fix hasn't been independently verified.

How to keep your AI assistant from sharing private information

You don't have to abandon AI assistants altogether, but it’s worth thinking twice before granting any third party access to your sensitive materials.

Review your connected accounts

Check your assistant's settings for connected apps, integrations, and authorized services. Remove anything it doesn't need, especially access to banking, email, cloud storage, and workplace messaging.

You can also revoke third-party access through your Google Account or review your Microsoft privacy settings. Your bank may offer similar controls for connected financial apps.

Check whether your AI agents share permissions

Separate assistants aren't necessarily isolated. Before connecting sensitive accounts, check whether your agents share credentials, integrations, or workspaces.

If you can't confirm they're isolated, avoid connecting personal banking information and workplace communication tools to the same environment.

Require approval before your AI takes action

Some AI agents can send messages, share files, or make purchases without asking for confirmation each time. Where available, enable approval requirements for anything outgoing.

Test these controls before trusting an assistant with sensitive information. Don't assume that requiring approval for one action automatically covers everything else.

Limit what financial information you share

If you're using AI to create a budget, you may not need to connect your bank account.

Consider providing spending totals manually or uploading a limited transaction report with identifying details removed.

Avoid sharing account numbers, passwords, or other sensitive information the assistant doesn't need.

Act quickly if something gets exposed

If your assistant shares private information, disconnect its integrations and delete the exposed message where possible.

Remember that deleting a message won't necessarily remove copies from notifications, logs, or screenshots.

Change any exposed passwords, review account activity, and contact your bank if the disclosure included credentials or information that could enable fraud.

Author Details

Thomas Kent

About the Author

Thomas Kent is a multi-disciplined reporter with over a decade of experience covering online platforms, digital trends, and consumer-facing tech. Tom focuses on digital privacy, data tracking, and user behavior, with a particular interest in how cookies, online surveillance, and platform design shape the modern internet experience. His reporting takes a research-driven, news-focused approach, translating complex technical topics into clear, accessible insights.