Information is closely associated with life. It is observed in how organisms communicate, how they function internally, and in the technologies they create. Those who claim reality consists of only matter and energy are increasingly misusing the word information to mean purely natural physical behavior since its origin in biology is difficult to reconcile with an atheist worldview. However, their redefined terminology misconstrues the properties and effects of information, restating concepts already explained using physics and chemistry. To address this issue, we introduce a three-dimensional framework to analyze all information-processing systems that includes: 1) Gitt's five hierarchical layers upon which messages are built: statistics, syntax, semantics, pragmatics and apobetics. 2) The four variants of communication partners, whereby the sender and receiver could each be cognizant or mechanical. 3) Push vs. pull designs, that specify where communication exchange is initiated. This framework defines the scenarios coded information can be used in and prepares the way to address complex questions such as how biological development processes and artificial intelligence technologies seem able to create new information. We argue that misunderstanding the nature and properties of coded information prevents addressing some of the most fundamental questions facing scientists.