FAQs

There are five sections and takes less than 2 minutes to complete.

Text a sexual partner that they might be at risk of an STD. If you text a partner, it will ALWAYS be anonymous. (Keep in mind that if your partner has only had sex with you, they’ll likely know it was from you). Studies have shown that anonymous notification options improve the rate of partner notification, which contributes to the successful detection, diagnosis, and treatment of transmitted infections.

You will be required to authenticate you are a real person and not sending a malicious text by authenticating through a text. This step will not reveal your identity and will still send an anonymous text.

The message that will be sent will look like this:

No problem! You can easily ensure our system does not contact you in a couple of ways.

If you just received a text from our service, please text back “STOP” to the number. If you don’t have the notification text anymore, please go to tellyourpartner.org/info and enter your phone number in the designated space at the end of the page and follow the prompts. Please note once you remove yourself from being contacted from our system no one will be able to send you a notification message even if it is warranted.

Before reporting a malicious or harassing notification, know that notifications are designed to include partners based on recommended prior contact periods ranging from 30 days to 12 months depending on the disease reported. In some cases, this time frame may be over-inclusive with respect to a specific partner but ensures that adequate contact tracing can be conducted.

We have put in place several mechanisms for protecting the privacy of both parties to the notification and taken steps to prevent the service from being used for spam or harassment. However, we cannot rule out that you have received this message in error if the person entered an incorrect phone number. If you believe the message was sent maliciously, please text “REPORT” to the text message sent from our service. Please note, we do not contact the recipient (you) or the sender (the person who initiated the text) once a number has been reported and do not give any personal details about the communication.

Click here for information about STDs.

Please go to your nearest public health clinic and refer to these guidelines from the CDC. If you are sexually active, learn more about vaccines from the CDC here. 

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AS ADAPTED FROM THE AMERICAN SOCIAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION

Sample script in case you want to tell someone in another way and could use some tips.

While it may sound daunting to think about talking to your recent sex partners, perhaps also including your primary partner, and telling them that you’ve been diagnosed with an STD, it’s important to let them know as soon as possible so they can get treatment, too. If these are people you have regular sexual relationships with, it can be even more important to discuss this because if one partner is untreated, many STDs can be passed back and forth indefinitely.

Remember, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia are treatable STDs, where antibiotics work. New treatments for HIV are so effective that people can stay healthy and live a normal lifespan. Talking to your partners about your diagnosis will not only reduce the stigma associated with getting an STD, but will help take care of the health of you, your sex partners, and the entire community.

You have to come to terms with your own diagnosis before you start talking to your partners. It’s unrealistic to expect other people to understand if you’re uncomfortable with the diagnosis yourself. How well-informed are you? Do you know the facts about STDs? You want to feel confident and knowledgeable before you explain the infection to someone else. You can also always call the CDC National STD Hotline with questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 800-227-8922 or 800-342-2437. In addition to talking to you personally, they can mail you brochures and information to have on hand to give to your partners.

If you’re nervous about talking to your partners, here are a few tips to help you gain confidence:

• Try role-playing with a trusted friend or in front of a mirror. Practice saying the words out loud.
• Choose a neutral setting during a time when you won’t be distracted or interrupted. Be natural.
• Speak with confidence. You are not lecturing or confessing. You’re sharing personal information.
• Remain calm. If you’re upset, a partner might think it’s worse than it is. Remember your delivery and body language becomes your message, too.
• Expect your partner to be accepting and supportive. People usually act as you expect them to act.

While some people may overreact, some won’t bat an eye. Whatever happens, try to be flexible. This is about sexual health — it’s not a “whodunit” mystery. Keep your perspective: syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea symptoms are annoying, but harmless if you get proper treatment. If left untreated, not only can these infections wreak havoc on your body, but they can make it much easier to transmit HIV from sex partner to partner. Take care of yourself. Take care of your community. Talking to your partner is a great first step.

For each message sent on TellYourPartner, we store the date and time of the request, sender’s IP address, message transaction ID, and the status of the message sent. Our system also stores the sender’s phone number for authorization purposes and to enable us to identify those who use the service inappropriately. For recipients, we store the phone number the message was sent to for verification purposes. This information is stored indefinitely in our database. It is our policy not to sell, trade or give away this information for marketing or sales purposes, but the information may be used as described in this policy. We may use information about your server, IP address and browser-related information in the general administration of our website. We may use aggregated information (i.e. number of messages sent per month, etc.) for administration and improvements to our site, as well as in articles and presentations in professional journals, conferences and workshops. We may correlate to the aggregate information additional non-specific user data, such as the date, time, destination of message. Third party providers of services, such as SMS messaging, may also save transactional information associated with their services. Third-party providers are governed by their own privacy policies, which you should review prior to using their services.

We have put in place several mechanisms for protecting the privacy of both parties to the notification and have taken steps to prevent the service from being used for spam or harassment. We take confidentiality very seriously and in order to preserve the anonymity of both parties to the messages on this system, we cannot provide personally identifiable information about either the sender or recipient upon request. However, we may disclose the personal information we collect through this site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is required to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime; and to protect the rights, property or safety of our organization or this website.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

We store the following information in our secure database when a person submits a request:
– Date/time of the request
– Sender IP address
– Message transaction ID
– Phone number
– Status of message (“sent” or “error”)

We need this information to send the message request, in addition to offering people the option to “REPORT”, “BLOCK” or “START” if they choose.

For each recipient, we store the following:
– Date/time of the request
– Message transaction ID
– Phone number
– Status of message (“sent” or “error”)