Can Media Share An Athlete’s COVID-19 Positive Test? – Forbes

Maple Leaf Auston Matthews was not too happy with media sharing his positive COVID-19 test, characterizing the report as “unethical”. Did he have a point or can these tests be reported?

The answer is not black and white, and like many issues falls, into a grey area. That being said, it may be best not to share this information without the consent of the player.

Individuals, including athletes, have an expectation of privacy with respect to their personal information. This extends to personal health information, which is generally considered the most confidential. At privacy law, it is also a key principle that an organization shall only collect, use, and disclose an individual’s personal information with that person’s consent. 

So with an athlete’s personal information, which includes COVID-19 test results, a team cannot disclose that information without the player’s consent. As well, in cases where a team has elected not disclose the personal test results of its players (which again is the sound legal position), that election should be honored and adhered to by third parties, including media.

Media members are also governed by ethical guidelines that would not support the disclosure of this type of information under the circumstances. For example, in Canada, as per the Ethics Guidelines of the Canadian Association of Journalists, there is an argument that unless there is a public health basis to disclose that information, which there is not, journalists should not be sharing the positive test results of players with the public. By disclosing this information, media members risk running afoul of the guidelines. Where a team has intentionally decided not to disclose the test results of its players to respect their privacy, then other organizations, including media, should maintain the privacy of players.

While media may not be personally bound by applicable legislation, they do risk being sued for invasion of privacy. We saw this with Jason Pierre-Paul suing ESPN and Adam Schefter’s over the reporter’s public disclosure of his medical records. While Schefter wasn’t bound by Federal disclosure legislation related to protecting the privacy of patients, it was alleged by Pierre-Paul that his privacy was breached by the posting. ESPN argue that the report was protected since it was of public interest, which was a reasonable argument. While the case ultimately settled, this lawsuit underscores the risk associated with these types of reports.

So the bottom line is the better and safer position is that teams and journalists should not be sharing the positive test results of players with the public without the consent of those players.

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