Which of the following types of PHI is protected under HIPAA?

Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA refers to any information that relates to an individual's health status, healthcare provision, or payment for healthcare that can be linked to a specific individual. This designated category includes a broad array of identifiers that can be used to trace back to an individual.

License plates are considered to be a form of identifiable information. If associated with health information, such as in a medical context—like a vehicle used to travel to healthcare appointments or for transporting a patient—this identifier can potentially link back to an individual's healthcare data. As a result, it falls under the category of PHI when it has relevance to the individual’s health record.

In contrast, public social media profiles generally lack the protected status under HIPAA because they are accessible to the general public and not typically tied directly to healthcare delivery or payment processes. Non-medical account numbers do not typically involve healthcare-related information, and generic email subscriptions also do not represent identifiable health-related data. As such, these options do not meet the criteria for PHI under HIPAA. Thus, license plates are the only choice that can definitively be classified as PHI when they are associated with an individual's health or healthcare services.