Bodily Autonomy, Surveillance, Informed Consent
A critical and often overlooked approach to minimizing the harm of criminal laws that single people out based on their health status is limiting the role of public health systems in facilitating criminal legal involvement. Within and well beyond the response to the HIV epidemic, public health practices and policies have sidelined concerns about bodily autonomy and the collection, storage, and disclosure of health data in ways that perpetuate stigma and dehumanize our people.
CHLP has long led efforts raising awareness about invasive public health surveillance analytics, HIV testing schemes that undermine informed consent, and the weak confidentiality protections surrounding our most sensitive data. We are a proud member of the HIV Bodily Autonomy, Surveillance, and Informed Consent (BASIC) initiative and champion this visionary framework formulated by Michael Scarce, a writer, researcher, and activist living with HIV.
Shared principles for the HIV response
In March 2026, CHLP joined a campaign encouraging organizations and individuals to endorse The Consensus Statement on HIV Bodily Autonomy, Surveillance, and Informed Consent (BASIC) to establish shared principles and standards for the HIV response that center the human dignity and fundamental rights of people living with HIV.
The Consensus Statement on HIV BASIC calls for greater Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV (MIPA) in public health and HIV policymaking, stresses the need for education among medical and public health practitioners on the harms of criminalization, and demands an end to our failing data safeguards that enable sensitive health information to be weaponized against marginalized communities.
Advocacy rooted in data
In a nation with porous health data privacy laws and robust criminalization of people living with HIV, access to trusted information is essential for advocates working to protect the rights and dignity of their communities. CHLP’s resources on molecular HIV surveillance and data privacy help demystify complex public health practices and equip advocates with the knowledge they need to ask critical questions, challenge harmful policies, and demand accountability.
Help protect our public health infrastructure
HIV care and advocacy groups, reproductive justice organizations, LGBTQ+ justice groups, sexual health advocacy groups, privacy organizations, public health policy stakeholders, human rights and medical ethics organizations, HIV anti-criminalization coalitions, and individual advocates are encouraged to endorse our new consensus statement.
By signing on, you join a growing call for this statement to serve as a guiding resource for rebuilding a public health infrastructure grounded in privacy, informed consent, and bodily autonomy—especially at a moment marked by rising stigma, state violence, and brazen violations of health data privacy.
Accessible community outreach
Public health surveillance raises significant data privacy concerns and can open people living with HIV to criminalization and other negative collateral consequences when sensitive health data is shared, analyzed, or used outside of their control. Through webinars and other educational programming, CHLP works to break down these complex issues and provide clear, accessible guidance for advocates, community members, and people living with HIV.
