Anonymous STD Testing How-To Guide

Free Guide to Anonymous STD Testing and Anonymous HIV Tests

Updated August 2016

Introduction

Anonymous STD Testing

Anonymous STD Testing

In the United States, there is no such thing as an anonymous STD test. Although you can get an anonymous HIV test, all other STDs are reportable diseases in every state. So if you want to get an anonymous test, you must follow the instructions in this guide.

We’ve put together this step-by-step guide for how to get an anonymous STD test and erase the evidence that you ever had a test in the first place. If you follow our instructions, nobody will know you got tested, only you will know the results and your name won’t be reported to any government agencies. You’ll have an anonymous test and you get treatment prescribed over the phone — anonymously — for many sexually-transmitted diseases.


Anonymous STD Testing Step-by-Step Guide

Preview:

Here’s a preview of the steps that are described in detail below, for those of you who want the abbreviated version:

  • Always browse on the computer in a private browsing session.
  • Create a new identity (name and birth date).
  • Get a temporary mobile number and sign up for a new email address.
  • Calculate the cost of the tests you want and buy a gift card for that amount.
  • Order the tests using your new identity and your new email address.
  • Provide an approximate zip code and choose a lab.
  • Pay with the gift card and shred it.
  • Print your lab form.
  • Bring the form to the lab and leave your wallet, ID and insurance card in the car.
  • Listen for them to call you by your customer number or name and provide blood and/or urine.
  • Watch for an email with your results and review them.
  • Talk to a doctor and get treatment if you test positive!
  • Remove the email account.
  • Notify your recent sexual partners using our anonymous partner notification service.

Over the Counter STD Test Alternative

For discreet in-home testing, click here for My Lab Box STD testing kits. You can learn more about at home STD tests in this article.

Preparation

  1. Write down the URL of this website, it’s whatismystatus.com. Then go to “www.google.com.”
  2. Clear your browser cache:
  • In Internet Explorer, choose Tools then Internet Options. Click Delete… under Browsing History. Leave the first box unchecked and check all the other boxes except “Passwords.” Click Delete and OK.
  • In Firefox, choose History and Clear Recent History. Check all the boxes and click Clear Now.
  • In Chrome, press CtrlShiftDel to open the Delete Browsing History window. Check all the boxes except Clear Saved Passwords and click Clear to erase your browsing data.
  1. Exit out of your browser and start it again, then start a private browsing session.
  • In Internet Explorer, click Tools and InPrivate Browsing.
  • In Firefox, click Tools and Start Private Browsing.
  • In Google Chrome, press CtrlShiftN or click the wrench icon and choose New Incognito Window.
  1. Return to this website:  whatismystatus.com.

Identity

  1. Create a name. Don’t try to be cute and use a celebrity’s name or John Doe. Choose a reasonable name. One suggestion is to take your first name and make it into a last name, and use your middle name as your first name. For example, if your name is “Thomas Brian Peters,” use Brian Thomas. Or if your name is “Steven Jacob Colvin,” use Jacob Stevens. The method is not as important as your ability to remember the name you choose.
  2. Create a birth date. We suggest simply choosing January 1 and your real birth year. Again, the method is not as important as your ability to remember what you picked.

Email Address

  1. Choose an email provider that you’re not already using to create a new email address. We recommend you use Bing (outlook.com) because they require a mobile phone number, but they don’t verify it. Yahoo won’t work with a Hushed number. Go to the site and start to register for the address by entering the email prefix you want to use. When you’ve found one that’s not already taken, write it down and stop for a minute.
  2. Get a temporary mobile phone number that you can use to finish signing up for your new email address. We recommend the app, Hushed, which gives you a free disposable phone number for five days. Hushed asks you for an email address, but doesn’t verify it. So type in the email address you’re going to create when you sign up for a Hushed number. That will be your login name for Hushed. Select an area code, choose a phone number and go back to the sign up screen for your new email address.
  3. Finish signing up for your new email address. Use your new identity: name, birth date and mobile phone number. You should be taken to your Inbox when you’ve successfully signed up.

Payment Method

  1. Click this link  to go to this std testing site. Keep in mind that the std testing lab in the previous link (like all std testing providers labs in the USA) does NOT allow anonymous testing. You can however, use this guide to provide them information that does not directly link to you and still have the ability to get tested and get results. The process described on this page will work for any std testing lab, but we recommend this lab specifically because they have the largest network of labs nationwide, fastest results and the best pricing. Go to the STD testing website, decide which STD tests you want to get and calculate the total cost. Keep reading. Don’t order the STD tests yet.
  2. Close your browser. Go to a grocery or drug store and purchase a gift card with enough money to cover the STD test fees. Don’t get a prepaid Mastercard or VISA, get a gift card. Gift cards have no names associated with them, and you can shred the card after you’ve used the money on it.

Ordering

  1. Repeat the steps under Preparation to open a private browsing session and navigate to this site again: whatismystatus.com.
  2. Click this link to go to this std testing site. Choose the STD tests you want done and place the STD test order. Keep in mind that the std testing lab in the previous links (like all std testing providers and labs in the USA) does NOT allow anonymous testing. You can however, use this guide to provide them information that does not directly link to you and still have the ability to get tested and get results. The process described on this page will work for any std testing lab, but we recommend this lab specifically because they have the largest national network of labs, the fastest results and the best pricing. Although the lab does not endorse this site or this anonymized method of getting tested, like any lab, it can do nothing to stop it. 
  3. Use your new identity to order the tests. In some states, the name you created must be printed on the form you take to the lab, so it might appear on that form and the lab will call you by that name to provide your sample. The only other time you will use the name is when you have a positive test result and the doctor wants to call in a prescription to the pharmacy. You won’t have to prove who you are to pick up an antibiotic prescription, but you won’t be able to use your insurance if you want to remain anonymous.
  4. Enter a zip code in your approximate area so you can find a convenient test center.
  5. Provide the new email address you just created and pay for the STD testing with the gift card you purchased.
  6. Shred the gift card and your notes from this session. However, you must remember your name, birth date, email address and password, so write it down if you have to and put it somewhere safe.
  7. Check your email for a form from the testing company. Print your order form and take it to the lab you selected. The order form will have either your customer number or your name, depending on what state you live in.

If the amount of your purchase exceeds $200, some people have reported difficulty in finding a gift card to buy that’s worth more than $200. Each retailer determines the maximum value gift card it wants to sell based on how much fraud they’ve experienced with the cards. You should be able to purchase the Vanilla Visa Gift Card and put between $20 and $500 on the card, in cash. Here is a link to a list of retailers for the card, but remember that each store can set its own maximum limit.

Your Identity Throughout the Process

After you pay and select a test center, you’re assigned a number and you receive an email with the form you need to take to the test center. If permitted by law,  the form has your customer number, not the name you provided. However, in some states, the name you provided must be printed on the form. Regardless of what the form contains, you will never be asked to show identification when you go for your test.

There are about 4,000 different labs in the U.S., and you could be sent there for a cholesterol test, a paternity test, a cancer screening or any one of thousands of possible tests. The point is, nobody will know why you’re there and you won’t know why anyone else is there. One exception: you’ll probably know the people who are there for a drug screening (e.g., pre-employment screening) because that’s generally a different list than the lab tests.  Pick to a test center far away from your work and home if that makes you feel more comfortable. The entire process will last between five and 15 minutes.

Getting the Test

  1. When you arrive at the lab, leave your wallet, ID, credit cards and insurance card in the car. Your form has either your customer number or the name you provided, but you will never be asked for identification at the test center. If a staff member asks you why you are there (which they won’t, but we like to cover all bases), say you’re there for a diagnostic test, not a drug test. That’s the question they intend to ask because drug tests are a separate list. If a staff member asks you for ID (which they won’t), it means they think you are there for a drug test. Tell them you’re there for a diagnostic test. You left it in the car, anyway. Smart move!
  2. Listen for them to call you by your customer number or name. When they call you, give your sample(s) and leave. Note that it’s the lab’s policy to leave the door open in the exam room where they take blood.
  3. Go to the bathroom, tear up your copy of the form and flush it down the toilet.

Getting Results and Treatment

  1. Watch your new email address for an email from the lab within one to two days. Follow the instructions in the email to access your test results. If your results are positive, call the lab to schedule a time to review them with a doctor, make sure you understand them and to discuss treatment options.
  2. If you are positive, seek treatment immediately. If it’s gonorrhea, chlamydia syphilis  or trichomoniasis and you can be treated with an antibiotic, the doctor might offer to call in a prescription. Find out exactly what he’s going to call in and what the instructions are for taking it and either pick up the prescription, order it online or get it from another doctor. If you decide to let the doctor call in a prescription, you probably won’t be able to use your insurance to pay for it because he will call it in using the name you provided. While it’s usually not a problem to pick up a prescription of antibiotics for another person, the pharmacy might ask for the address and phone number of a new patient.  You can use any address and phone number because the information will never be used by the pharmacy. For example, use 123 1st St for the address and reverse the last four digits of your phone number.

Cleanup

  1. Sign on to your email account, delete the emails in your account and remove the account. Don’t print your results or keep copies of anything if you want total anonymity.

Notifying Your Partners

Anonymous STD Testing

We strongly encourage you to notify your recent sexual partners if you test positive for an STD so they can get treatment and you can stop the disease from spreading. Since the health department won’t be following up with you, it’s your responsibility to notify your partners.

Use our anonymous partner notification service tool that sends an anonymous email or text message from this site and advises your partner to get tested for STDs. Nobody will know you sent the message. This is very important.


Providing Feedback

We’ve followed these steps ourselves to make sure we’re including all the right details, and we continue to update the guide based on feedback from people who used the guide and had a question or ran into an issue. Please leave a suggestion or comment to help us improve the guide, keep it up to date, or to share your story of how you got an anonymous test — anonymously, of course.


Why We Chose Our Recommended Lab

(We don’t mention our recommended lab by name so they don’t try to prevent us from revealing this anonymous strategy. Just click any of the links to the lab to see our recommendation). When we developed this guide, we evaluated online testing labs based on the controls they have in place to protect your identity. We continue to reevaluate labs, and we recently changed our recommendation to this lab, because they provide tighter controls and protection for your identity than most other labs. For example, they:

  • Require less identification  information.
  • Accept gift cards.
  • Do not take insurance.
  • Assign you a customer number that identifies you throughout the process (where permitted).
  • Have counselors available 24 hours a day to speak with you over the phone, and doctors who can prescribe treatment for some diseases over the phone.
  • Erase your customer number from their system if you test negative.
  • Charge less than many other labs.

You can read this article for a more in-depth discussion about how we evaluated and chose our recommended lab. We also negotiated a $10 discount on your total order when you order your tests through our site.


Summary:

  • Always browse on the computer in a private browsing session.
  • Create a new identity (name and birth date).
  • Get a temporary mobile number and sign up for a new email address.
  • Calculate the cost of the tests you want and buy a gift card for that amount.
  • Order the tests using your new identity and your new email address.
  • Provide an approximate zip code and choose a lab.
  • Pay with the gift card and shred it.
  • Print your lab form.
  • Bring the form to the lab and leave your wallet, ID and insurance card in the car.
  • Listen for them to call you by your customer number or name and provide blood and/or urine.
  • Watch for an email with your results and review them.
  • Talk to a doctor and get treatment if you test positive!
  • Remove the email account.
  • Notify your recent sexual partners using our anonymous partner notification service.

Posted in AIDS, Chlamydia, Crabs, Exclusive Guide, Gonorrhea, Herpes, HIV, Human Papillomavirus, Recommendations, STD Testing, Syphilis, Trichomoniasis Tagged with: , , , , , ,
6 comments on “Anonymous STD Testing How-To Guide
  1. Sandra says:

    Hi my name is Sandra (not my real name) and I just wanted to drop you a quick note here to say that a lot of people really need to know this info about anonymous std testing. I know that many people put off getting tested because of privacy issues. Just think how many of them are actually positive and continue to spread disease just because they are leary of taking a test.

  2. Anonymous STD says:

    This is a great resource – it’s the only place I’ve found that really lays out a step by step approach to get true anonymous STD testing. Good luck with the site!

  3. thomas says:

    Anyone try this and have it work? I’m suspicious they won’t demand an id. Don’t want to waste the money if i can’t get it done without showing the id.

    • admin says:

      We’ve tested the method with success. I suppose there is no guarantee a particular clinic might be more strict, but think of it this way… from a business point of view, they want to be customer friendly. From a health point of view, the more people that get tested, the better. Most states already allow anonymous HIV testing for just that reason, so I think most medical people are on board with encouraging more testing rather that going out of their way to report people. I’ve not gotten any feedback about clinics pushing back for ID.

      As for expense – the main cost is that of the test which, if you are at risk, you really need to do regardless for your own sake and that of your partner(s).

      Of course if you can do it anonymously, we believe that is best, provided you follow up with treatment and notification of your partners (which you can do anonymously, and for free, through our service on this site).

  4. ErickCuthbe says:

    Finally, a how-to guide for getting std testing anonymously. Thanks for this info. more people should step up and take responsibility for spreading disease. I hope this will help them make the decision to do the right thing.

  5. John says:

    Hi this is John, not my real name. I was just reading through the comments and noticed a lot of people how are not getting tested for an std because they’re scared of the results or people finding out. That is just crazy! Im positive, I wish I would’ve had my ex tested before we slept together, now I have herpes and it sucks.

    Of course Im not going to lie about my condition since I only date people who have the same disease. If youre smart you will get tested and have the person you intend to sleep with tested as well, or you will end up on an std dating site like Meet Positives

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