20 U.S.C. § 9573
All collection, maintenance, use, and wide dissemination of data by the Institute, including each office, board, committee, and center of the Institute, shall conform with the requirements of section 552a of title 5, the confidentiality standards of subsection (c) of this section, and sections 1232g and 1232h of this title.
The Director shall ensure that all individually identifiable information about students, their academic achievements, their families, and information with respect to individual schools, shall remain confidential in accordance with section 552a of title 5, the confidentiality standards of subsection (c) of this section, and sections 1232g and 1232h of this title.
No person may-
No Federal department, bureau, agency, officer, or employee and no recipient of a Federal grant, contract, or cooperative agreement may, for any reason, require the Director, any Commissioner of a National Education Center, or any other employee of the Institute to disclose individually identifiable information that has been collected or retained under this subchapter.
Individually identifiable information collected or retained under this subchapter shall be immune from legal process and shall not, without the consent of the individual concerned, be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial or administrative proceeding.
This paragraph does not apply to requests for individually identifiable information submitted by or on behalf of the individual identified in the information.
Whoever, being or having been an employee or staff member of the Department, having taken or subscribed the oath of office, or having sworn to observe the limitations imposed by subsection (c)(2), knowingly publishes or communicates any individually identifiable information (as defined in paragraph (5)(A)), the disclosure of which is prohibited by subsection (c)(2), and that comes into such employee or staff's possession by reason of employment (or otherwise providing services) under this subchapter, shall be found guilty of a class E felony and imprisoned for not more than five years, or fined as specified in section 3571 of title 18, or both.
The Director may utilize temporary staff, including employees of Federal, State, or local agencies or instrumentalities (including local educational agencies), and employees of private organizations to assist the Director in performing the Director's responsibilities, but only if such temporary staff are sworn to observe the limitations imposed by this section.
No collection of information or data acquisition activity undertaken by the Director shall be subject to any review, coordination, or approval procedure except as required by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under the rules and regulations established pursuant to chapter 35 of title 44, except such collection of information or data acquisition activity may be subject to review or coordination if the Director determines that such review or coordination is beneficial.
For the purposes of this section-
Any person who uses any data provided by the Director, in conjunction with any other information or technique, to identify any individual student, teacher, administrator, or other individual and who knowingly discloses, publishes, or uses such data for a purpose other than a statistical purpose, or who otherwise violates subparagraph (A) or (B) of subsection (c)(2), shall be found guilty of a class E felony and imprisoned for not more than five years, or fined as specified in section 3571 of title 18, or both.
Nothing in this section shall restrict the right of the Secretary, the Comptroller General of the United States, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and the Librarian of Congress, to gain access to any reports or other records, including information identifying individuals, in the Director's possession, except that the same restrictions on disclosure that apply under paragraphs (1) and (6) shall apply to such individuals.
Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), the Attorney General (or any Federal officer or employee, in a position not lower than an Assistant Attorney General, designated by the Attorney General) may submit a written application to a court of competent jurisdiction for an ex parte order requiring the Secretary to permit the Attorney General (or his designee) to-
An officer or employee of the Department who, in good faith, produces information in accordance with an order issued under this subsection does not violate subsection (b)(2) 1 and shall not be liable to any person for that production.
1 So in original. Probably means subsection (d)(2).
20 U.S.C. § 9573
EDITORIAL NOTES
CODIFICATIONSubsecs. (a) to (c) of section 9007 of this title, which were transferred to this section and redesignated subsecs. (c) to (e) by Pub. L. 107-279, §401(a)(6), were based on Pub. L. 103-382, §408(a) to (c), Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 4034; Pub. L. 107-56, §508, 115 Stat. 368; Pub. L. 107-279, §401, 116 Stat. 1983.
AMENDMENTS2002-Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 107-279, §401(a)(6), transferred subsecs. (a) to (c) of section 9007 of this title to this section and redesignated them as subsecs. (c) to (e), respectively. See Codification note above.