HIV.gov has recently received some questions about its online privacy practices.

HIV.gov’s mission is: to inform the public about Federal HIV/AIDS resources, policies, and programs; to enable them to find information about HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care services; and to fight the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS. As part of our efforts, we have developed products to support that work.

HIV.gov does not collect any personally identifiable information (PII) from users coming to the HIV.gov website or the HIV Testing Sites and Care Services Locator. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requires encryption for the transmission of health-related information when it contains PII. Even though HIV.gov does not collect (and has never collected) PII, the HIV.gov Locator is encrypted.

We encourage all users to take proper privacy and security precautions when using information resources available on the Internet.