Most of us assume that when our health info moves between a doctor’s office, a hospital, a pharmacy, or an app, there are basic safety checks in place—like “you can’t log in without strong protection,” “your data is encrypted,” and “there’s a record of who accessed it.” Those basics matter because when health data leaks or gets misused, the harm isn’t abstract. It can mean an abuser finds you, an employer learns something they shouldn’t, your insurance situation gets complicated, or you lose trust in care and stop seeking it.
