A person's phone number is not considered PHI because it can be located in an online or paper telephone directory.

True is incorrect because HIPAA's 18-identifier list expressly includes telephone numbers, and public availability of the number alone does not exempt it from PHI classification.

False. HIPAA explicitly lists telephone numbers as one of the 18 categories of identifiers that, when associated with health information, constitute protected health information. The fact that a number may appear in a public directory does not strip it of its PHI status - what matters is its linkage to an individual's health information, not whether the number itself is publicly findable.