6 checks before sharing health information in a screenshot

When you want to send your mom this week's medication times, a friend the date of an appointment, or your partner what you noted at your last checkup, the quickest route is often a screenshot. Two buttons and the image is ready. But a screenshot doesn't capture only the line you want to show; it captures everything on the screen at that moment. In this post we go through 6 checks to make before sharing health information in a screenshot, who to share it with and through which channel, and how to tidy up your photo library afterwards.

Why does a screenshot reveal more than you think?

A screenshot usually has other things around the information you want to send: the other medications on the list, other appointments in the calendar, a short note you wrote for yourself, or a notification that popped up at the top of the screen at that exact moment. None of these may be things the other person needs to know.

Then there's where the image goes. On iPhone, screenshots are saved to your Photos library. According to Apple, if iCloud Photos is turned on, your photos upload to iCloud automatically and a change you make on one device shows up on your other devices too. So information you keep only on your iPhone in an app leaves that app the moment it becomes a screenshot and follows the rules of your photo library. If you're curious where apps store health data, the post where is your health data stored covers this in detail.

6 checks before you share

Each of the checks below takes a few seconds. Once they become a habit, you'll do them almost automatically before you send.

1. Do you really need the image? Often a single sentence like "I have a checkup on Thursday at 2:30 pm" carries less information than the whole screen and does the same job.
2. Crop it. Trim the image so only the part you want to show is left. Don't let another line, another medication or another date at the edge go to the other person.
3. Look at notifications and the status bar. A message or reminder may have appeared at the top while you took the screenshot. If a medication name, a person's name or part of a message shows in the notification, take the screenshot again or crop that part out.
4. Remove notes and personal comments. Notes you wrote for yourself, feelings, or information about other people usually aren't part of what you mean to share.
5. Check the recipient twice. People with similar names, recent chats and group chats are the most common reasons for sending to the wrong person. Before you tap Send, look at the chat name once more.
6. Think about how long the image will last. The image you send stays on the other person's phone, in the chat history and maybe in their backup too. Share with that in mind, and delete the copy you no longer need on your side.

Who are you sharing with, and through which channel?

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) suggests thinking about what you share online and who can access it, and sharing only as much as the other person needs to know. This advice was written for social media, but it's also a good yardstick for sending health information by message.

• One-to-one instead of a group: Not everyone in the family group may need to see every detail. Send the information only to the person who needs it.
• It can be forwarded: The image you send can be passed on to someone else. If you don't want an image to reach everyone, telling the other person is also an option.
• With healthcare professionals: Your doctor or the hospital may have their own preferred channel for receiving documents. It's a good idea to ask before you send a screenshot.
• Social media: Even in the background of a post, a medication box, an appointment card or an open health app can be visible. Look at the whole image before you post.

One more thing to keep in mind: information you receive or send as a screenshot isn't enough on its own to make a decision about your medication. If you have a question about your medication, dose or timing, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.

After sharing: tidying up your photo library

As screenshots pile up, they get lost among your photos and are still there months later. Following this small routine now and then makes things easier:

• Delete a screenshot as soon as you've sent it and it has done its job.
• Remember that deleted items wait in the Recently Deleted album for a while; Apple says this period is 30 days. If you want them gone right away, you can delete them from there too.
• If iCloud Photos is on, a photo you delete on one device is deleted everywhere you use iCloud Photos; you don't need to look for it separately on your other devices.
• Once a week, glance through the "Screenshots" album and clear out the ones that contain health information.

This small habit keeps not only your privacy but also your library in order: if there's a document you really want to keep, it's easier to keep it in one place than in scattered screenshots.

What can you use in Oveluni instead of a screenshot?

In Oveluni, your entries are stored on this iPhone and the app doesn't make automatic cloud backups. But when you take a screenshot of an entry, that image moves to your Photos library and depends on your photo library's settings, not Oveluni's. That's why the app's own tools are a tidier way to choose the information you share.

If you need to share a period with your doctor or someone close to you, the PDF report lets you choose 7, 30 or 90 days or a custom date range and only the categories you want, and preview the report before you send it. The Include notes option is off by default, so the notes you wrote for yourself don't go into the report unless you turn it on. For a step-by-step walkthrough, see the PDF report guide.

Reminders that appear at the top of your screen can also end up in a screenshot. With the Hide medication names and Hide appointment and pregnancy details options in Notification privacy, you can keep these details out of your notifications; for more, read hiding medication names in notifications. With App lock, you can also set Oveluni to open with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode. Oveluni is coming soon to the App Store.

Sources

1. NCSC: Social media – how to use it safely
2. Apple Support: Set up and use iCloud Photos