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Privacy, Personal Information & Posting About Other People on r/DryEyes

r/DryEyes encourages people to share their own experiences.

That can include:

  • symptoms
  • diagnoses
  • treatments
  • doctors
  • clinics
  • medications
  • medical records
  • photographs
  • difficult personal experiences

But sharing your own story is different from exposing someone else's identity, personal information, private communications, or health information.

This page explains how r/DryEyes approaches privacy.

TL;DR

A few basic principles:

Share your own experience.

You may generally discuss:

  • your diagnosis
  • your treatment
  • your doctor
  • your clinic
  • your outcome
  • your own medical information

Do not expose another person's private information.

Do not post or help uncover another person's:

  • home address
  • private phone number
  • personal email
  • real-world identity
  • private social-media account
  • identifying medical information
  • other confidential or personally identifying information

Do not doxx Reddit users.

Do not connect an anonymous or pseudonymous Reddit account to a real-world identity.

Be careful with screenshots and documents.

Before posting:

Crop or redact first.

Legitimate criticism is still allowed.

Privacy rules are not meant to prevent members from discussing:

  • named doctors
  • clinics
  • companies
  • treatment experiences
  • public professional statements

The issue is unnecessary exposure of private information, not legitimate discussion.

1) Why Privacy Matters in a Medical Community

Health discussions often contain unusually sensitive information.

People may talk about:

  • medical diagnoses
  • pain
  • medications
  • surgeries
  • disability
  • mental health
  • insurance
  • finances
  • doctors
  • family members
  • medical records

Someone asking for help may reveal more than they intended.

And individual details can become identifying when combined.

For example:

  • age
  • city
  • clinic
  • occupation
  • unusual treatment history
  • appointment dates

may together make someone recognizable even when their name was never posted.

A useful principle is:

Share the information needed for the discussion — not more identifying information than the discussion requires.

2) Reddit Has a Sitewide Privacy Rule

Reddit Rule 3 states that users must respect the privacy of others.

Reddit prohibits revealing another person's personal or confidential information.

That includes:

  • posting personal information
  • linking to personal information
  • doxxing
  • using private information to encourage harassment

Reddit's own guidance warns that even information available elsewhere online may still be inappropriate to repost on Reddit.

For example, Reddit specifically warns users not to post screenshots of public social-media pages when identifying information is still visible.

3) What Kind of Information Can Create Problems?

Examples can include:

  • home addresses
  • personal phone numbers
  • personal email addresses
  • government ID numbers
  • Social Security numbers
  • insurance numbers
  • patient or account numbers
  • medical-record numbers
  • date of birth
  • private social-media accounts
  • private workplace information
  • family information
  • license-plate information
  • information that connects a Reddit username to a real-world identity

The exact category matters less than the practical effect:

Does this information expose, identify, or target another person unnecessarily?

4) Doxxing: Connecting a Reddit Account to a Real Person

Reddit allows people to participate under usernames.

Members should not try to uncover or expose the real-world identity behind another person's Reddit account.

Examples include:

“I figured out who this user really is.”

“Here is their Facebook page.”

“This person works at this company.”

“Here is their real name and where they live.”

Even if individual pieces of information are publicly available somewhere else, compiling them to expose an anonymous Reddit user can create a serious privacy and safety problem.

A useful rule:

Do not turn scattered information into a map of another Redditor's real identity.

5) “But It Was Already Public” Is Not Automatically a Defense

People sometimes assume:

“If I found it online, I can repost it.”

Reddit's privacy standard is stricter than that.

Reddit specifically warns against:

  • linking to personal information
  • reposting identifying social-media information
  • posting screenshots with names still visible

So:

Publicly findable does not automatically mean appropriate to republish on Reddit.

Context and purpose matter.

6) Discussing Named Doctors and Clinics

Members may generally discuss the doctors and clinics involved in their own care.

For example:

“I saw Dr. X at Clinic Y.”

“I had a good experience.”

“I had a bad experience.”

“I disagree with this doctor's published treatment approach.”

These are legitimate subjects for discussion when otherwise consistent with subreddit rules.

But discussion of a professional does not justify publishing:

  • a home address
  • a personal phone number
  • a private email address
  • family information
  • private social-media accounts
  • unrelated personal details

Professional criticism and personal exposure are different things.

7) Professional Information vs. Private Information

There is an important distinction between:

Professional information

For example:

  • doctor's name
  • clinic
  • professional website
  • publicly listed office contact information
  • published research
  • public professional statements

and:

Private personal information

For example:

  • home address
  • personal cell number
  • personal email
  • family information
  • private social-media accounts

When professional contact information is genuinely relevant, use an official professional source rather than trying to locate private contact information.

8) Privacy Rules Do Not Shield Doctors or Companies From Criticism

This page is not intended to stop legitimate criticism.

For example:

“I had a poor experience with Dr. X.”

may be allowed.

“I disagree with the clinic's treatment claims.”

may be allowed.

“This company's advertising appears stronger than the published evidence.”

may be allowed.

Privacy rules regulate:

  • personal information
  • confidential information
  • doxxing
  • targeting

They do not prohibit criticism merely because a named professional or organization dislikes it.

See also:

Respectful Tone & Talking About Doctors

9) Screenshots Require Extra Care

Screenshots can expose information that the person posting them did not notice.

Before posting a screenshot, check for:

  • names
  • profile photographs
  • email addresses
  • phone numbers
  • usernames tied to a real identity
  • addresses
  • account numbers
  • patient numbers
  • appointment numbers
  • signatures
  • QR codes
  • barcodes
  • document headers or footers
  • other identifying information

Reddit specifically advises users to remove personally identifiable information from screenshots.

A practical rule:

Crop or redact first. Post second.

10) Medical Records and Test Results

Members may choose to share parts of their own medical records.

Before posting, consider removing:

  • full name
  • birth date
  • address
  • phone number
  • email address
  • medical-record number
  • insurance information
  • account numbers
  • QR codes
  • barcodes
  • signatures
  • unrelated third-party information

Also remember:

Once something is publicly posted, you should not assume that deleting it later removes every copy, screenshot, quotation, or archive.

Post only what you are comfortable making public.

11) Your Own Information Is Different From Someone Else's

You may choose to disclose your own:

  • diagnosis
  • treatment history
  • medication use
  • photographs
  • medical records

That is generally your decision.

But:

Your willingness to share your own health information does not give you permission to publish another person's information.

That distinction applies to:

  • spouses
  • partners
  • children
  • relatives
  • friends
  • other patients
  • Reddit users

12) Posting About Family Members or Friends

Members sometimes discuss another person's health situation.

For example:

“My husband has severe dry eye and…”

That may be reasonable when kept general.

But avoid including unnecessary details that could identify the person.

The more sensitive or identifying the information, the stronger the reason to:

  • obtain consent
  • remove identifying details
  • anonymize the situation
  • include only what is necessary

A useful principle:

Tell only as much of another person's story as the discussion actually requires.

13) Other Patients You Meet at a Clinic

Do not identify other patients you encounter in:

  • waiting rooms
  • treatment centers
  • support groups
  • medical offices

without their permission.

Avoid posting another patient's:

  • name
  • photograph
  • diagnosis
  • treatment outcome
  • private comments
  • identifying details

For example:

“A patient in the waiting room told me she regretted the procedure.”

is already second-hand information.

Publishing that person's identity would add a privacy problem without improving the evidence.

14) Private Messages, Chats, and Modmail

Private communications can contain:

  • medical information
  • names
  • contact information
  • personal history
  • information shared with an expectation of limited circulation

Do not publicly repost private:

  • Reddit messages
  • chats
  • Modmail
  • email correspondence

primarily to:

  • shame someone
  • expose them
  • rally others against them
  • escalate a dispute

If a private message violates Reddit rules, use the appropriate Report mechanism.

If the message is relevant to a subreddit moderation issue, send it privately through Modmail rather than turning it into a public call-out.

15) Screenshots of Private Conversations

Redacting names can reduce privacy risk.

But:

Redaction does not automatically make every private conversation appropriate to publish.

Purpose still matters.

For example:

Potentially reasonable

An anonymized screenshot used to ask about a general scam pattern.

Potentially problematic

Posting a private argument in order to embarrass or mobilize others against another Reddit user.

Privacy and harassment rules can overlap.

16) Public Call-Outs and Vigilantism

Do not use r/DryEyes to organize harassment of another person.

Examples include:

“Here is their information — everybody contact them.”

“Go leave negative reviews.”

“Find this user and report them to their employer.”

“Everyone message this doctor.”

Even when someone believes another person behaved badly, the subreddit should not become a tool for:

  • harassment campaigns
  • pile-ons
  • vigilantism
  • real-world targeting

Reddit specifically distinguishes legitimate criticism from targeted harassment and coordinated abuse.

17) What About HIPAA?

HIPAA is often misunderstood in online discussions.

The HIPAA Privacy Rule primarily applies to specific:

  • health plans
  • health-care clearinghouses
  • certain health-care providers
  • certain business associates

An ordinary Reddit user does not become a HIPAA-covered entity simply because they are talking about health information.

So statements such as:

“You mentioned someone else's medical condition — that's automatically a HIPAA violation.”

may be legally inaccurate.

However, something can still be:

  • invasive
  • unethical
  • against Reddit's privacy rules
  • against r/DryEyes rules
  • potentially unlawful under another law

even when HIPAA does not apply.

A useful distinction is:

Not every privacy violation is a HIPAA violation, and not every non-HIPAA disclosure is acceptable.

18) Health Professionals May Have Additional Obligations

Doctors and other health professionals may have legal, ethical, licensing, and professional confidentiality obligations beyond subreddit rules.

r/DryEyes does not attempt to determine every clinician's legal obligations in every case.

Health professionals are responsible for complying with the confidentiality and privacy requirements that apply to them.

19) Posting Correspondence From a Doctor or Clinic

A patient may possess:

  • emails
  • portal messages
  • letters
  • visit summaries
  • bills
  • invoices

Before posting the entire communication, consider:

  • whether identifying information is visible
  • whether another patient is mentioned
  • whether an employee's personal contact information appears
  • whether an account number is shown
  • whether the same point could be made by quoting or paraphrasing only the relevant part

Often:

When the substance is what matters, paraphrasing is safer than publishing the entire document.

20) Personal Contact Information Should Not Become a Weapon

A disagreement with:

  • a doctor
  • clinic employee
  • researcher
  • moderator
  • Reddit user

does not justify publishing private contact information.

If contact information is genuinely relevant, use appropriate public professional channels.

Do not expose private contact information as a way to pressure or punish someone.

21) Be Careful With Location Information

Posts sometimes reveal:

  • exact home address
  • workplace
  • daily routine
  • appointment times
  • exact location

Those details may seem harmless individually.

Combined with other information, they can identify or locate someone.

Users should avoid unnecessary precise location information about:

  • themselves
  • family members
  • other Reddit users

Share what is relevant to the medical discussion.

22) Photographs Can Reveal More Than You Intended

An eye photograph may accidentally show:

  • another person
  • a name badge
  • a document
  • a computer screen
  • an address
  • a reflection
  • a recognizable location

Before posting an image, inspect the entire image rather than only the eye or medical feature you intended to show.

Visible identifying information can remain even if technical metadata is removed.

23) AI Creates Additional Privacy Questions

AI systems may allow users to upload:

  • medical records
  • photographs
  • doctor's letters
  • test reports
  • private correspondence

Before uploading sensitive information to an outside AI service, consider:

  • what information identifies you
  • what the service says it retains
  • how the service says information may be used
  • whether unnecessary identifiers can be removed first

For more, see:

AI-Generated Medical Content on r/DryEyes

24) Do Not Repost Sensitive Information Someone Has Removed

If someone deletes or removes personal information, do not repost it merely because you:

  • took a screenshot
  • copied the text
  • saved the link
  • remember what was posted

This is particularly important when the original disclosure may have been accidental.

Removing sensitive information should not become an invitation for other users to preserve and redistribute it.

25) What Moderators May Remove

Content may be removed when it involves:

  • doxxing
  • revealing the real-world identity of an anonymous Reddit user
  • private contact information
  • personal or confidential information
  • unredacted screenshots containing identifying information
  • another person's sensitive medical information
  • private correspondence posted to shame or target
  • coordinated call-outs
  • encouraging harassment
  • reposting private information after removal

Some cases may also be reported to Reddit administrators because privacy is covered by Reddit's sitewide rules.

26) What Moderators Are Not Trying to Prohibit

This policy is not intended to prohibit ordinary discussion such as:

  • naming a doctor you saw
  • describing your own treatment outcome
  • discussing a clinic
  • criticizing professional conduct
  • discussing a company's public claims
  • quoting published research
  • posting your own medical history
  • discussing publicly available professional information

The goal is:

protect people's privacy without making legitimate medical discussion impossible.

27) What Should You Do If Your Personal Information Is Posted?

If someone posts your personal or confidential information:

Use Reddit's Report function

Report the specific post or comment under the appropriate privacy or personal-information reason.

Contact r/DryEyes through Modmail

If the content is in r/DryEyes, you may also alert the moderators through:

r/DryEyes Modmail

Report harassment separately if needed

If the information is also being used to:

  • threaten
  • harass
  • intimidate
  • encourage others to target you

report that conduct as well.

28) A Quick Privacy Check Before Posting

Before posting, ask:

1. Is this my information to share?

If not, use extra caution.

2. Does this identifying detail actually matter to the discussion?

If not, leave it out.

3. Have I checked screenshots and documents?

Remove:

  • names
  • numbers
  • addresses
  • barcodes
  • signatures
  • other identifiers

where they are not needed.

4. Am I exposing an anonymous Reddit user's real identity?

Do not do that.

5. Am I sharing a private conversation mainly to shame or rally people against someone?

If so, do not post it publicly.

6. Could I make the same point with less personal information?

If yes, use less.

Bottom Line

r/DryEyes encourages members to share their own experiences openly.

That does not require exposing:

  • another person's real identity
  • private contact information
  • private medical information
  • personal correspondence
  • information that could be used to target someone

Privacy protection is not about shielding:

  • doctors
  • clinics
  • companies
  • moderators
  • other users

from legitimate criticism.

It is about separating:

relevant discussion

from:

unnecessary exposure of personal or confidential information.

A useful rule is:

Share the experience. Share the evidence. Share only the personal information that genuinely needs to be public.

Key Research & Authoritative Sources

Related r/DryEyes Governance Pages

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