I love hearing that I received a "secure message", with no further detail. Straight to trash -- I don't read "secure messages". My inbox is probably more secure.
I love hearing that I received a "secure message", with no further detail. Straight to trash -- I don't read "secure messages". My inbox is probably more secure.
The gp isn't talking about spam using "secure message" as bait to open unwanted email.
Instead, legitimate companies like banks, healthcare, etc tell users to click on a url link to their "Secure Message Center" to read or submit some critical information. It's often the only way to get the info the users need.
E.g. if I open a payment dispute with the bank, the workflow they use is the Secure Message area. I can't just use my normal email client and upload some pdf attachments. Instead, I have to log into my bank website, navigate to their Secure Message area, and then upload the docs there to submit the claim. They also don't send followup status or final resolution in an email. Instead, you log back into the Secure Message area to read the case resolution. Similar for insurance claims.
Similar situation for asking a medical imaging center for some mammograms. They will not send those as PDF or JPG attachments directly to your email address. Instead, you log into a secure message area on a healthcare website and download it from there.
At least in part, because of your workflow, is that it's a ticketing system. Much easier to manage than having people reply to e-mails (even when you specifically state "REPLY ABOVE THIS LINE!" they are absolute cretins.)
> The gp isn't talking about spam using "secure message" as bait to open unwanted email.
No, this includes all messages from my doctor/healthcare. It's not mass spam.
Theoretically I could want to know what's in the message, but not enough to visit a website I've been logged out of again, perform multi-factor authentication, navigate to the message center and find the message and then back it up manually.
For instance, I received one today from HMRC (my country's tax body). I had to log in to find out what the contents were, in this case it was just a reminder of how much tax I need to pay by the end of next month.
As it happens, I already knew this because the previous bill 6 months ago also included this information, but the message itself was unique and important. Certainly, there would have been financial consequences if I didn't act on that information.
I would have preferred to receive the contents by actual message rather than having to log in to read it, but that's not an option they offer. It's certainly not safe to assume it can all just be ignored.
It must be nice to not need to use that crap, but one day you might.
I don’t understand how one doesn’t. I need to do it to look up status on health insurance claims and to access the tax documents for my financial accounts.
I guess you can avoid the email spam by just directly logging into the website when you need that stuff, but how else are they supposed to notify you when something new has happened?
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> No, this includes all messages from my doctor/healthcare
Then IMO they accept the responsibility of me seeing the message potentially much later than if they had stated the concern up front in e-mail.
I get secure messages from public authorities and companies in Denmark, which go to my secure 'mailbox' for this purpose. Of course, contracted out to some private company, and they'll probably change the contract again in 5 years.
The messages are usually PDFs, which isn't great for accessibility, e.g. using a translation tool.