The idea in practice

A personal memory note should help future work without becoming an archive of sensitive source material. Credentials, incidental information about other people and copied document extracts are poor substitutes for a precise user-stated preference.

Try the distinction on a real task

This is an illustrative request, not a customer result or a promise that every connected service supports every step.

Remember my preference for concise reports, but do not save the private figures in this file as a personal note.

How to apply it

  • Choose the durable preference
  • Keep source documents in their proper context
  • Review the saved wording

What to check

Check that useful context does not include unnecessary private data.

A mistake to avoid

Do not copy whole conversations or another person's sensitive information into a standing preference.

Using Bris for this work

Bris is designed to carry useful preferences into later work. Tell it what should stay relevant, correct details when they change, and ask what it remembers before relying on an important constraint. A remembered preference is context; it is not permission to send, book or buy.