Is STD testing anonymous? What stays private

Usually not. Online lab orders, home kits and clinic visits are tied to you, and positive results for some infections go to the health department. That kind of testing is confidential, which means the law limits who can see your result. The exception is HIV. Some health departments offer anonymous HIV testing, where you never give your name. This guide covers what each option keeps private and what it doesn't. It is general information, not legal advice.

Key points

• Confidential testing keeps your name on file and limits who sees the result. With anonymous HIV testing, nothing ties the result to your name.
• Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois are among the states where the health department says anonymous HIV testing is available. Ask your local health department.
• Online lab orders and home kits are not anonymous. Positive results for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis and HIV are reported to the health department in every state, and those reports are confidential.
• Paying the testing company directly means no insurance claim. Three companies say what name shows on your card statement.
• At the lab, Quest and Labcorp OnDemand ask for a photo ID. STDcheck and Rapid STD Testing say you don't need to show one.

Confidential or anonymous?

The two words mean different things. The Illinois Department of Public Health, which lists HIV testing sites that offer one or both, describes confidential testing as testing with the client's information "documented in client's record." That information "may include name, address and locating information." In anonymous HIV testing, nothing that identifies you is linked to the request, the record or the result.

Illinois also tells sites to warn clients that the provider "cannot link the client's test result to the client by name." If you don't come back for your result, nobody can reach you with it.

Anonymous HIV testing is the exception. The Illinois list marks STD clinics as confidential only, and CDC's GetTested locator describes the clinics it lists as offering "confidential and free or low-cost testing."

Where anonymous HIV testing exists

CDC's HIV surveillance page notes that some positive HIV results may not reach the confidential, name-based registries that health departments keep, because people use anonymous HIV testing or test themselves at home. These health departments say they offer it:

• Kentucky. "Every county health department in Kentucky and many community based organizations offer free anonymous or confidential HIV tests."
• Missouri. Four of the six agencies the state contracts with offer anonymous HIV testing, which the health department says is "mandated by state law."
• Illinois. The state's list of HIV counseling and testing sites marks which ones offer anonymous HIV testing.

Rules differ by state. To find a site, call your local health department or search CDC's GetTested locator (opens in a new tab), then ask the site before you go.

A positive rapid test needs a second test. CDC says most rapid HIV tests are antibody tests, and a positive antibody test needs a follow-up test to confirm it. Ask the site how it handles a positive result and where the follow-up happens.

HIV self-tests

With a self-test, you take the sample and read the result yourself. CDC says a self-test "can be used at home or in a private location," and no lab handles it. CDC's surveillance page lists home self-testing as one reason some positive results may not reach the name-based registry. If a self-test is positive, CDC says to see a health care provider for follow-up testing. Our HIV home test guide covers where to buy one or get one free.

What gets reported, even when you order online

CDC says syphilis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, chancroid and HIV are reportable in every state. Health care providers and laboratories must tell the health department when a person is diagnosed, and the health department collects information about that person. For HIV, CDC says every state reports cases to the state by name.

Ordering online doesn't change this. Labcorp OnDemand says results "may also be provided to a local, state, and/or federal health authority." myLAB Box's privacy policy lists the patient's name, address, phone number and date of birth among the details on the form its lab sends to Florida's health department.

Reporting doesn't make a result public. CDC says STI and HIV reports are kept confidential and, in most places, protected by state law or regulation. When states share case data with CDC, CDC says the records carry no personally identifiable information. Our privacy and medical records guide covers HIPAA and who else can see a result.

What online testing companies say

At the lab

• Quest: "Please be prepared to present a valid government issued photo ID."
• Labcorp OnDemand: bring your requisition number "along with your photo ID."
• STDcheck: "You are not required to show your ID at the lab." You get a code instead, which the lab uses to run the test.
• Rapid STD Testing: you sign in with your first name, last name and date of birth, so "there is no ID to show and no paperwork."

If you share a Labcorp Patient account with someone, Labcorp says everyone linked to it can see your OnDemand results.

On your card statement

STDcheck says its charge shows as "ANALYTE HEALTH." Priority STD Testing says its charge shows as "SFHT" and "will not be identifiable to your order." Rapid STD Testing says "RSC Health," and "nothing on the statement says STD, test or lab." We didn't find a statement name on the other providers' pages.

Insurance

STDcheck, Priority STD Testing, Rapid STD Testing, Quest and Labcorp OnDemand all say they don't bill insurance. Quest's product page calls its tests "no insurance, no EOB." An explanation of benefits is the statement your insurer sends after a claim, and the Texas Department of Insurance says it lists the medical services you got. No claim means no EOB.

An HSA or FSA card works the same way, though the receipt names the test, so keep it somewhere private. Our HSA and FSA guide explains the paperwork, and our cash vs insurance guide covers when insurance is the cheaper route.

Home kits

LetsGetChecked says its kits arrive "in a plain envelope." Everlywell says its test ships "in plain, unmarked packaging with no indication of the test contents." myLAB Box says the package shows neither the product name nor the business name. The sample still goes to a lab, so the reporting rules above apply. Everlywell, for example, says its physician network reports positive chlamydia, syphilis, hepatitis C and gonorrhea results to your state.

Prices for private testing

These are the lowest current prices we track for a full panel and an HIV test, by route. The privacy details above come from each company's own pages, so check them again before you order.

If keeping your name out of an HIV test matters most, start with your health department. For other infections, testing will be confidential, and paying the testing company directly keeps it out of your insurance records.