A few days ago, I ended up in the local emergency room thanks to a self-inflicted Pickleball injury.
Every private room was already taken, so they parked me on a gurney in the hallway. My wife sat next to me in a chair, both of us trying to pretend this was perfectly normal.
When I came back from radiology, I found her talking with a hospital employee who had rolled up with a mobile cart and computer. The woman was asking her very specific questions about my medical history, the details of my injury, and all sorts of personal stuff you don’t usually share in public.
Then she turned to me and started asking the same type of questions. Loudly. In the middle of a busy hallway.
It was one of those moments when you realize you should say something, but you just don’t. I was in pain. I wanted to go home. The idea of arguing about privacy in that moment felt impossible.
I could have asked for a private space, but let’s be honest, when you’re sitting on a gurney in the ER with a throbbing leg, you’re not exactly in the mood to negotiate your HIPAA rights.
That’s when it hit me.
We spend so much time and effort protecting our digital privacy, locking down accounts, using two-factor authentication, avoiding suspicious links, but sometimes the problem isn’t digital at all. Sometimes it’s human.
In that hallway, surrounded by strangers, my private information wasn’t private anymore. And there was nothing I could do about it.
It wasn’t anyone’s fault. The staff were just doing their jobs. The system was working the way it always has, fast, efficient, focused on moving people through.
But it made me realize something important. Real privacy isn’t just about data or encryption. It’s about empathy. It’s about remembering that the information being shared belongs to someone who might not want an audience.
When I left that hospital, I had a sore leg, a prescription, and a new appreciation for how fragile privacy really is.
We can protect our online lives all we want, but sometimes the hardest leaks to prevent are the ones that happen out loud, right in front of everyone.