Confidential & Anonymous Testing

HIV Test Results and Privacy Issues

HIV test results fall under the same privacy rules as all of your medical information. Information about your HIV test cannot be released without your permission. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) ensures that the privacy of individuals’ health information is protected while ensuring access to care. However it is important to note that not all HIV testing sites are bound by HIPAA regulations. Before you get tested be sure to inquire about the privacy rules of the HIV test site as well those surrounding your test results.

Available Testing Services

HIV tests can be taken either confidentially or anonymously. Most states offer both anonymous and confidential testing, however some states only offer confidential testing services.

• Confidential testing means that your name and other identifying information will be attached to your test results. The results will go in your medical record and may be shared with your healthcare providers and your insurance company. Otherwise, the results are protected by state and Federal privacy laws.
• Anonymous testing means that nothing ties your test results to you. When you take an anonymous HIV test, you get a unique identifier that allows you to get your test results. Not all HIV test sites offer anonymous testing. Contact your local health department or 1-800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) to see if there are anonymous test sites in your area.

With confidential testing, if you test positive for HIV or another sexually transmitted infection (STI), the test result and your name will be reported to the state or local health department to help public health officials get better estimates of the rates of HIV in the state. The state health department will then remove all personal information about you (name, address, etc.) and share the remaining non-identifying information with CDC. CDC does not share this information with anyone else, including insurance companies.

If you have concerns regarding who can have access to your tests results, it is important to ask your testing center about their privacy policies and whom they are required to report a positive result to.

For more information on HIV data collection and reporting, see CDC’s summary of HIV Surveillance.