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<br />Page | 36 <br /> <br /> Anonymous Records <br />The following types of records must be entered anonymously: <br /> Households in which one adult member does not provide informed consent for themselves or <br />their dependents <br /> Households entering a domestic violence program or currently fleeing or in danger from a <br />domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, human trafficking or a stalking situation <br /> Minors under the age of 13 with no parent or guardian available to consent to the minor’s <br />information in HMIS <br /> Households in programs which are required by funders to report HIV/AIDS status <br /> Special Circumstances <br />If the reporting of the HIV/AIDS status of clients is not specifically required, the HIV/AIDS status must <br />not be entered in HMIS. <br /> <br />If a combination of race, ethnicity, gender, or other demographic data could be identifying in your <br />community, those data should not be entered for anonymous records. <br /> HMIS Data Suppression Policy <br /> Data Suppression <br />Data suppression refers to various methods or restrictions that are applied to datasets, reports <br />orvisualizations in order to protect the identities, privacy and personal information of individuals. <br /> <br />In Washington State, RCW 43.185C.180 and RCW 43.185C.030 specify that all personal information in <br />the HMIS is confidential and that the identity and right of privacy of these individuals must be <br />protected. <br /> <br />Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is a separate topic and must never be disclosed to any entity <br />that does not have HMIS access or is not part of your data sharing agreement. <br /> When Data Suppression Is Required <br />It is the policy of the HMIS program to suppress data when the data contains demographic detail, the <br />numbers are small enough to potentially identify a person, and: <br /> Will be in a public space or presentation, or <br /> Will be shared with an entity that is not covered in the HMIS Consent Form. <br /> <br />In these cases, any non-zero counts that are under 11 will be suppressed. <br /> <br />Additional suppression will be needed when the suppressed value can be derived from other reported <br />values. For example, when you can calculate the suppressed value by subtracting other values from <br />the grand total. <br /> <br />The exceptions to data suppression are zero values or values that fall under an “unknown” category <br />type. Both of these circumstances do not contribute any valuable information that could identify a <br />person or reveal confidential data and thus, is not subject to suppression. <br /> <br />Learn more about how to apply data suppression and which data sharing entities are required to meet <br />this policy in the HMIS Data Suppression Policy document.