                CHAPTER 71--NATIONAL EDUCATION STATISTICS
 
Sec. 9007. Confidentiality


(a) Confidentiality standards

                           (1) In general

        (A) The Center shall develop and enforce standards designed to 
    protect the confidentiality of persons in the collection, reporting, 
    and publication of data under this chapter.
        (B) This section shall not be construed to protect the 
    confidentiality of information about institutions, organizations, 
    and agencies that receive grants from, or have contracts or 
    cooperative agreements with, the Federal Government.

                           (2) Prohibition

        No person may--
            (A) use any individually identifiable information furnished 
        under this chapter for any purpose other than a statistical 
        purpose;
            (B) make any publication whereby the data furnished by any 
        particular person under this chapter can be identified; or
            (C) permit anyone other than the individuals authorized by 
        the Commissioner to examine the individual reports.

(b) Administration

                           (1) In general

        No department, bureau, agency, officer, or employee of the 
    Federal Government, except the Commissioner in carrying out the 
    purposes of this chapter, shall require, for any reason, copies of 
    reports that have been filed under this chapter with the Center or 
    retained by any individual respondent. Copies of such reports that 
    have been so filed or retained with the Center or any of the 
    Center's employees, contractors, or agents 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 shall apply only to individually identifiable information 
    (as defined in paragraph (5)(A)).

                  (2) Employee or staff violations

        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 (a)(2) of 
    this section, knowingly publishes or communicates any individually 
    identifiable information (as defined in paragraph (5)(A)), the 
    disclosure of which is prohibited by subsection (a)(2) of this 
    section, and that comes into such employee or staff's possession by 
    reason of employment (or otherwise providing services) under this 
    chapter, 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.

                         (3) Temporary staff

        The Commissioner 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 Center in performing the Center's 
    responsibilities, but only if such temporary staff are sworn to 
    observe the limitations imposed by this section.

                    (4) Information requirements

        No collection of information or data acquisition activity 
    undertaken by the Center 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 Commissioner determines 
    that such review or coordination is beneficial.

                           (5) Definitions

        For the purposes of this section--
            (A) the term ``individually identifiable information'' means 
        any record, response form, completed survey, or aggregation 
        thereof from which information about particular individuals may 
        be revealed; and
            (B) the term ``report'' means a response provided by or 
        about an individual to an inquiry from the Center and does not 
        include a statistical aggregation from which individually 
        identifiable information cannot be revealed.

                           (6) Violations

        Any person who uses any data provided by the Center, 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 (a)(2) of this section, 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.

                  (7) Access to reports or records

        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 Center's possession, 
    except that the same restrictions on disclosure that apply under 
    paragraphs (1) and (6) shall apply to such individuals.

(Pub. L. 103-382, title IV, Sec. 408, Oct. 20, 1994, 108 Stat. 4034.)

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in section 9008 of this title.
