HHS privacy guidance makes a simple point: telehealth and portal use should protect personal health information.

When helping someone else, privacy questions become more practical:

  • are you in a private place?
  • are other people overhearing?
  • is the device secure?
  • who else can see the portal or messages later?

This is where Level 3 earns its label. You are not just protecting your own privacy. You are helping guard someone else’s sensitive information too.

What to do:

  • use private spaces when possible
  • avoid public Wi-Fi for portal work
  • be careful with screenshots, shared devices, and saved logins

This lesson is part of Getting Care Online from Lumoset Foundation, Fort Wayne, Indiana – free, always, with no account and no catch.