Secretly Collected HIV Test Results Used in Criminal Prosecutions
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/secretly-collected-hiv-test-results-used-criminal-prosecutions?akid=10137.227380.PfVH6a&rd=1&src=newsletter804214&t=21
If you got a "confidential" HIV Test at a government health clinic in Michigan, it turns out your test results are not so confidential...Since 2003, the Michigan Department of Community Health has been secretly collecting the names, dates of birth, risk categories, and other demographic information of people submitting for confidential HIV testing at grant-funded locations throughout the state and storing them in a massive database, a months-long investigation by The American Independent has discovered. The database also includes the coded identities of people who have been identified as sexual and needle-sharing partners of persons living with HIV.
The state says this database is necessary to track the number of tests conducted using federal grants, as well as to determine reach and success of targeted testing programs designed to draw in people who are at high risk for HIV infection. All the information that is collected is maintained in the database “indefinitely,” said MDCH spokeswoman Angela Minicuci, and a person whose information is captured does not have a way to remove it.
While MDCH claims the database does not contain personally identifiable information, a recent study, published last month in the University of California Press’ journal Social Problems, has found that some Michigan local health departments with access to the database are using it to pursue both civil actions – known as “health threat to others” actions – and criminal prosecutions against people living with HIV.
...Michigan law requires that funded agencies provide two options for HIV testing. The first is anonymous testing, where a code is used in place of a client’s name. The second option is confidential testing, where the state certified tester is given a client’s name along with other personally identifying information. Only those who opt for a confidential test will receive a piece of paper with their name and test results...“We also have serious questions about why the state is retaining private information about people who test negative for HIV,” she said. “Michigan would need a very good reason to justify keeping this information, and certainly should not be misleading people about what will happen with their private information.”
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