To encourage voluntary, individual HIV testing, anonymous and free testing clinics (CDAG) were established in 1988 in every department. The program has proven its ability to reach, more effectively than other facilities, populations at risk of infection. The only data collected to date at the national level were aggregated activity data that did not include individual epidemiological information. The French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (InVS) was tasked with coordinating the CDAGs that wished to implement a common epidemiological questionnaire to identify the characteristics of those seeking testing and understand why they were coming. A national epidemiological survey conducted in June 1999 provided a snapshot of the entire population that had used the free testing program at some point. This survey serves as a benchmark against which the CDAGs can compare themselves and also allows for a national assessment of whether the free testing program generally meets the objectives assigned to it. The analysis compared the characteristics and requests of individuals to better understand how and why certain types of “personal stories” might lead to screening. It relied on multiple correspondence analysis and automatic classification. It identified groups whose characteristics will be useful for tailoring the content of prevention messages within the CDAGs. (R.A.)