AIDS and the Privacy Act

The role of Treasury Board as the public service employer makes The heart of this report -- Parts III and IV -- it the most desirable centre for the develop- offers recommendations on how to treat ment of a government-wide policy on AIDS AIDS-related personal information to con- in the public service. [...] In the absence of a concerned with whether there should be an cure, they will kill thousands more over the obligation to take a test for the presence of the antibody to the virus that causesA IDS -- next several years. [...] Measures tween the public good and the rights to the have included the following: protection of personal information set out in the Privacy Act. [...] With an There is the potential for an institution to anonymoust est, the person being tested is the react to AIDS by collecting volumes of per- only one who can match the results of the test sonal information. [...] Any form of testing that links the abroad, for example, might want to exclude name of the individual with the test results is those infected with the HIV from travelling much more intrusive (although it is possibly to certain areas of the world.