Before you go
Yes, by custom rather than by law. No register, no notes, nothing reported to anyone. What that means in practice, and what it does not.
Yes, by long-standing custom rather than by law. Meetings keep no register, take no details, and report to nobody: not your GP, not your employer, not the police, not social services. Members agree not to repeat who they saw or what they heard. That promise carries no legal force, and it is still the foundation the whole thing is built on, taken seriously in every room in the country.
Most of what comes up when you search this is American and talks about health privacy law. None of it applies here, and it misses the simpler British point. A meeting is a hired room with an urn in it. There is no organisation holding a file on you, because there is no file.
Last updated: 23 September 2026.
Anonymous is in the name for a reason. AA's traditions call anonymity the spiritual foundation of the fellowship, and the other 12-step fellowships took the same line. Day to day it comes down to three things.
Nobody asks for your surname, your address or anything else. First names are the custom, and the first name does not have to be yours. Nothing is written down: no attendance list, no notes, no database, nothing to be lost or leaked or subpoenaed. And what is said in the room stays in the room, which most meetings say out loud before they start.
It is not legal privilege. A group cannot promise you the force of law and any page that implies otherwise is overselling. What actually protects you is that everyone in the room has exactly the same thing at stake, which is why breaking anonymity is about the most serious thing a person can do in these rooms.
It also works outwards, not just inwards. The fellowships ask members never to identify themselves or anyone else as members in the press, on the radio, on film or online. That is why there is no list of members anywhere, including on this site, and why nobody will ever tag you in anything.
Not from a meeting. Nobody there knows who to tell, and nobody has your details to tell them with.
Going to a meeting creates no record of any kind, so there is nothing to disclose on a form, and nothing has been diagnosed or treated because a meeting is not treatment. Whether you tell your GP is entirely your call, and many people find it useful to. If you are attending as part of a court or probation arrangement, that is between you and them; the group's only involvement, if any, is signing a slip you bring with you.
It happens. In a small town it happens fairly often, and it is much less of a problem than it feels from outside.
They are in that chair for the same reason you are, and they are bound by the same custom you are. Almost always the moment passes with a nod and neither of you mentions it again. If you would still rather not risk it for now, online meetings put you in a room with people from anywhere in the country, where you can use any name and, in most groups, keep your camera off. Recording is not allowed in any of them.
Open meetings are open to anyone, including a friend or family member you bring for the first one. Closed meetings are for people who think they might have a problem themselves. Both hold the same anonymity, and the listing usually says which is which. What to expect at your first meeting explains how each runs.
Nothing, because it has none. There is no sign-up, no account and no tracking of who you are. You look up a meeting and you go.
If you want to talk to someone before you walk into a room, the helplines on our support page are answered by people holding the same anonymity, most of whom have made exactly that phone call themselves.
Yes. First names only are the custom, nothing is written down, and members agree not to repeat who they saw or what they heard. AA describes anonymity as the spiritual foundation of the fellowship.
No. Confidentiality in a meeting is a shared custom, not a legal privilege, and no group can promise the force of law. It holds because everyone in the room has the same thing at stake.
Not from the meeting. Meetings keep no records, take no details and report to nobody. There is nothing to disclose on a form, and whether you tell anyone is entirely your choice.
No. There is no attendance list, no register and no database. Nobody takes your surname or contact details, so there is nothing that could be shared, lost or requested.
They are there for the same reason and bound by the same custom, and usually the moment passes with a nod. If you would rather avoid it, online meetings put you with people from anywhere, under any name you choose.
You can rename yourself before joining, most groups are happy for cameras to stay off, and recording is not allowed. The same anonymity applies online as in a hall.