National Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) Surveillance System (HASS) (April 2016)

Description of Initiative

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) manages the National HIV/AIDS Surveillance System (HASS) and works in collaboration with the provinces and territories (PTs). HASS is a passive case-based surveillance system that collates non-nominal data on HIV and AIDS cases in Canada. Data is voluntarily submitted to PHAC from all PT public health authorities.

Why was a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) completed?

A PIA was completed on HASS due to the sensitive nature of the personal information collected by the HASS program.

More Information

This PIA focused on PHAC’s collection, use, disclosure, retention and disposition of personal information involved in HASS business processes. It did not include an examination of collection, retention and disclosure practices of P/T partners; data received from the Canadian Perinatal HIV Surveillance Program; and international notices of HIV contacts or diagnoses for foreign nationals for the purpose of public health follow-up.

The PIA recommended mitigation actions in the following risk areas: data collection, retention and disposition authorities; Threat and Risk Assessment (TRA); Statement of Sensitivity (SoS); and safeguards.