An important justification for privacy resides in the principle of respect for autonomy. Privacy also enhances the development of trust in the physician. Failure to respect the confidentiality of patients drives them away from HIV testing, counseling, and treatment and discourages patients from confiding in their physicians. Unwanted disclosure of intimate health information can cause patients a great deal of emotional, social, and economic harm. Stigmatization may be a consequence of such disclosure, particularly when HIV infection reveals the person's sexual orientation or use of illegal drugs.
Disclosure can cause embarrassment, social isolation, and loss of self-esteem.
A breach of privacy can result in loss of employment or employability, insurance or insurability, or housing. This privacy principle is being repeatedly tested, with many political bodies in the United States clamoring for a right to know. Many confidentiality statutes in the United States have been amended to grant a right to know for all these groups. If the ethical and legal right to privacy is taken seriously, then it should yield only where absolutely necessary to avert serious harm. Accordingly, the right to confidentiality should be near absolute in cases in which the risk of contracting HIV is remote.