I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3157 

To amend the General Education Provisions Act to strengthen privacy 

protections for students and parents. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 22, 2015 

Mr. ROKITA (for himself, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. KLINE, and Mr. SCOTT of Virginia) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the General Education Provisions Act to 

strengthen privacy protections for students and parents. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Student Privacy Pro5 tection Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

9 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a subsection or other 

10 provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to 


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1 a subsection or other provision of section 444 of the Gen2 eral Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) (com3 monly known as the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and Pri4 vacy Act of 1974’’). 

5 SEC. 3. FERPA SHORT TITLE. 

6 Subsection (a) (20 U.S.C. 1232g(a)) is amended to 

7 read as follows: 

8 ‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the 

9 ‘Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. REQUIREMENTS. 

11 Such section (20 U.S.C. 1232g) is amended by strik12 ing subsection (b), except for paragraph (1)(J), and in13 serting the following: 

14 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—No funds shall be made available 

15 under any applicable program to any educational agency 

16 or institution, or State educational authority, unless such 

17 agency or institution, or State educational authority, com18 plies with the following requirements: 

19 ‘‘(1) PARENTAL ACCESS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) EDUCATIONAL AGENCY OR INSTITU21 TION.—The educational agency or institution 

22 shall not deny or effectively prevent the parents 

23 of students who are or have been in attendance 

24 at a school of such agency or at such institu25 tion, as the case may be, the right to inspect 


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1 and review the education records of their chil2 dren. If any material or document in the edu3 cation record of a student includes information 

4 on more than one student, a parent shall have 

5 the right to inspect and review only such part 

6 of such material or document that relates to 

7 such parent’s child. 

8 ‘‘(B) APPROPRIATE PROCEDURES.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The State edu10 cational authority shall establish appro11 priate procedures for the granting of a re12 quest by parents for access to the edu13 cation records of their children who are or 

14 have been in attendance at any educational 

15 agency or institution under the jurisdiction 

16 of the State educational authority. 

17 ‘‘(ii) REASONABLE RESPONSE TIME.— 

18 The educational agency or institution, or 

19 the State educational authority, shall es20 tablish appropriate procedures for the 

21 granting of a request by parents for access 

22 to the education records of their children 

23 within a reasonable period of time, but in 

24 no case more than 30 days after the re25 quest has been received. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RESTRICTIONS ON PARENT AND STUDENT

2 ACCESS.— 

3 ‘‘(A) RESTRICTIONS.—The educational 

4 agency or institution shall not make available to 

5 students enrolled in an institution of higher 

6 education the following: 

7 ‘‘(i) Financial records of the parents 

8 of the student or any information con9 tained therein. 

10 ‘‘(ii) Confidential letters and state11 ments of recommendation, which were 

12 placed in the education records prior to 

13 January 1, 1975, if such letters or state14 ments are not used for purposes other than 

15 those for which they were specifically in16 tended. 

17 ‘‘(iii) If the student, while in high 

18 school at any age, has signed a waiver of 

19 the student’s right of access in accordance 

20 with subparagraph (B), confidential rec21 ommendations— 

22 ‘‘(I) respecting admission to any 

23 educational agency or institution; 

24 ‘‘(II) respecting an application 

25 for employment; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) respecting the receipt of 

2 an honor or honorary recognition. 

3 ‘‘(B) WAIVER.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A student or a 

5 person applying for admission may waive 

6 the right to access confidential statements 

7 described in subparagraph (A)(ii), except 

8 that such waiver shall apply to rec9 ommendations only if— 

10 ‘‘(I) the student is, upon request, 

11 notified of the names of all persons 

12 making confidential recommendations; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) such recommendations are 

15 used solely for the purposes for which 

16 they were specifically intended. 

17 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATIONS.—A waiver under 

18 this subparagraph may not be required as 

19 a condition for admission to, receipt of fi20 nancial aid from, or receipt of any other 

21 services or benefits from such agency or in22 stitution. 

23 ‘‘(3) ADJUSTMENTS TO RECORD.—The edu24 cational agency or institution shall provide parents 

25 of students who are or have been in attendance at 


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1 a school of such agency or at such institution an op2 portunity to— 

3 ‘‘(A) challenge and correct the content of 

4 the education record that the parent believes is 

5 inaccurate or misleading at the time of attend6 ance or otherwise in violation of privacy rights 

7 of students through a hearing by such agency 

8 or institution, in accordance with the regula9 tions of the Secretary; and 

10 ‘‘(B) insert into such education records a 

11 written explanation of the parents respecting 

12 the content of such records. 

13 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS WITHOUT PA14 RENTAL CONSENT.—Except as otherwise provided 

15 under subsection (c), the educational agency or insti16 tution shall not permit the disclosure of education 

17 records (or personally identifiable information con18 tained therein) of students without the written con19 sent of their parents to any individual, agency, or 

20 organization. 

21 ‘‘(5) RECORDKEEPING.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The educational agen23 cy or institution shall maintain a record, kept 

24 with the education records of each student, in 


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1 an easy to retrieve and understandable format, 

2 which will indicate— 

3 ‘‘(i) each individual, agency, or orga4 nization (other than an individual, agency, 

5 or organization specified under subsection 

6 (c)) that has obtained access to a student’s 

7 education record maintained by such edu8 cational agency or institution; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) specifically the legitimate interest 

10 that each such individual, agency, or orga11 nization has in obtaining such information. 

12 ‘‘(B) AVAILABILITY OF RECORDS.—Such 

13 record of access shall be available only to par14 ents, to the school officials and their assistants 

15 who are responsible for the custody of such 

16 record of access, and to the Secretary or the 

17 designee of the Secretary, as a means of moni18 toring compliance with this section. 

19 ‘‘(C) WRITTEN AGREEMENTS.—The edu20 cational agency or institution and the State 

21 educational authority shall maintain a copy of 

22 and make available to parents, upon request, 

23 any written agreements that are required under 

24 this section. 


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1 ‘‘(6) SECURITY PRACTICES.—The educational 

2 agency or institution, and the State educational au3 thority shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) establish, implement, and enforce 

5 policies and procedures regarding information 

6 security practices that— 

7 ‘‘(i) serve to protect the education 

8 records (and personally identifiable infor9 mation contained therein) held or main10 tained by that educational agency or insti11 tution, or State educational authority; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) require any party that is given 

13 access to such education records (or per14 sonally identifiable information contained 

15 therein) on behalf of the educational agen16 cy or institution, or State educational au17 thority, to have information security prac18 tices that serve to protect such records and 

19 information; 

20 ‘‘(B) designate an official who shall be re21 sponsible for maintaining the security of its 

22 education records; and 

23 ‘‘(C) establish a breach notification policy 

24 in the case of a breach of the security practices 

25 under subparagraph (A) or the release of the 


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1 education records or information contained 

2 therein in violation of this section, under which 

3 the educational agency or institution, or State 

4 educational authority— 

5 ‘‘(i) provides notification of the breach 

6 or violation to parents in not less than 3 

7 days of being made aware of such breach; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(ii) works with the third parties in10 volved with such breach or violation to 

11 gather the information necessary to pro12 vide such notification. 

13 ‘‘(7) DUTY TO INFORM.—The educational agen14 cy or institution shall effectively— 

15 ‘‘(A) inform the parents of students, or the 

16 students (if such students are 18 years of age 

17 or older, or are attending an institution of high18 er education) of the rights accorded them by 

19 this section; and 

20 ‘‘(B) inform students of high school age of 

21 the rights of parents and students under this 

22 section, and how those rights transfer from a 

23 parent to a student in accordance with para24 graph (8). 


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1 ‘‘(8) TRANSFER OF RIGHTS.—The educational 

2 agency or institution shall ensure that whenever a 

3 student has attained 18 years of age, or is attending 

4 an institution of higher education, the consent re5 quired of and the rights accorded to the parents of 

6 the student shall thereafter only be required of and 

7 accorded to the student. 

8 ‘‘(9) ENSURING COMPLIANCE.—The State edu9 cational authority shall— 

10 ‘‘(A) verify that each educational agency 

11 and institution under its jurisdiction— 

12 ‘‘(i) has provided the appropriate no13 tices to parents and students required 

14 under this section in an easy-to-understand 

15 format; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) is in compliance with the require17 ments of this section; and 

18 ‘‘(B) certify to the Secretary that each 

19 educational agency and institution under its ju20 risdiction is in compliance with the require21 ments of this section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS WITHOUT PARENTAL 

2 CONSENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Such section (20 U.S.C. 1232g) 

4 is amended by striking subsection (c) and inserting the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS WITHOUT PARENTAL

7 CONSENT.—Notwithstanding subsection (b)(4) and sub8 ject to subsection (h), an educational agency or institution 

9 may permit the disclosure of education records (or person10 ally identifiable information contained therein) of students 

11 without the written consent of their parents to, or for, any 

12 of the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) Other school officials, including teachers, 

14 within the same educational agency or institution, 

15 who have been determined by such agency or institu16 tion to have legitimate educational interests, includ17 ing the educational interests of the child for whom 

18 consent would otherwise be required. 

19 ‘‘(2) An education service provider, contractor, 

20 consultant, volunteer, or other party who has been 

21 determined by such educational agency or institution 

22 to have legitimate educational interests and to whom 

23 the educational agency or institution has outsourced 

24 institutional services or functions, provided that— 

25 ‘‘(A) the party— 


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1 ‘‘(i) performs an institutional service 

2 or function for which the agency or institu3 tion would otherwise use employees; 

4 ‘‘(ii) is under the direct control of the 

5 educational agency or institution with re6 spect to the use and maintenance of edu7 cation records; 

8 ‘‘(iii) is in compliance with the re9 quirements of this section relating to the 

10 use and release of personally identifiable 

11 information contained in such education 

12 records; and 

13 ‘‘(iv) has entered into a written agree14 ment with the educational agency or insti15 tution, subject to the regulations of the 

16 Secretary, that establishes requirements 

17 concerning the protection of the informa18 tion that will be disclosed to the party, in19 cluding— 

20 ‘‘(I) clear provisions outlining 

21 how and what information from the 

22 education records shall be disclosed to 

23 the party and what personally identifi24 able information the party will create 


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1 in carrying out the party’s duties 

2 under the agreement; 

3 ‘‘(II) a description of any subcon4 tractor or person acting for the party 

5 in carrying out its duties under the 

6 agreement; 

7 ‘‘(III) requirements that prohibit 

8 the party from releasing personally 

9 identifiable information to any other 

10 party, except to a subcontractor or 

11 person acting for the party described 

12 in subclause (II); 

13 ‘‘(IV) clear provisions— 

14 ‘‘(aa) outlining policies and 

15 practices to ensure that edu16 cation records (including person17 ally identifiable information con18 tained therein) will be secured 

19 using commonly accepted indus20 try standards, by electronic or 

21 physical means by such party; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(bb) which stipulate that 

24 such means will secure such 

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1 authorized access and that such 

2 policies and practices will be fol3 lowed; 

4 ‘‘(V) the penalties for a security 

5 breach in violation of the agreement; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(VI) provisions that specify the 

8 acceptable uses by such party of the 

9 personally identifiable information in 

10 compliance with this section; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the educational agency or institu12 tion— 

13 ‘‘(i) notifies parents and students of 

14 the policies and means the party uses, 

15 without disclosing the specific policies or 

16 means used, to protect the security of per17 sonally identifiable information maintained 

18 by the party; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) ensures that— 

20 ‘‘(I) any education records that 

21 are held by the party shall, at a min22 imum, be handled and stored in a 

23 manner that meets the commonly ac24 cepted industry standards on privacy 

25 protection; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) upon request, a parent is 

2 provided access by the educational 

3 agency or institution to the personally 

4 identifiable information held about 

5 their children by the party to the 

6 same extent and in the same manner 

7 as such access is provided in sub8 section (b)(1). 

9 ‘‘(3) The disclosure of directory information, as 

10 so designated by the educational agency or institu11 tion under this paragraph, provided that the edu12 cational agency or institution which the student at13 tends— 

14 ‘‘(A) has implemented a directory informa15 tion policy, which may include a directory infor16 mation policy limiting the parties to or purposes 

17 for which directory information may be dis18 closed; 

19 ‘‘(B) has given public notice, including an 

20 easy-to-understand notice to parents of stu21 dents, of— 

22 ‘‘(i) the categories of information 

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1 spect to students attending the institution 

2 or agency; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) the right of a parent to opt out 

4 of allowing their child’s information to be 

5 disclosed as directory information; and 

6 ‘‘(C) has allowed a reasonable period of 

7 time after such notice has been given under 

8 subparagraph (B), but not less than 15 school 

9 days, for a parent to inform the institution or 

10 agency that any or all of the information des11 ignated as directory information shall not be 

12 disclosed without the parent’s prior consent. 

13 ‘‘(4) Officials of another educational agency or 

14 institution in which the student seeks or intends to 

15 enroll, upon condition that the student’s parents be 

16 notified of the transfer, receive a copy of the edu17 cation record if desired, and have an opportunity for 

18 a hearing to challenge the content of the record. 

19 ‘‘(5)(A) An official listed in subparagraph (B) 

20 or an authorized representative working for, or on 

21 behalf of, such official, subject to the limitations de22 scribed in this paragraph and subsection (m)(1)(B), 

23 and only in connection with and to the extent nec24 essary for— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the audit, evaluation, or enforcement 

2 of local, State, or Federal law; 

3 ‘‘(ii) the audit or evaluation of locally sup4 ported, State-supported, or federally supported 

5 education programs pursuant to local, State, or 

6 Federal law; or 

7 ‘‘(iii) the enforcement of the Federal or 

8 State legal requirements which relate to the 

9 programs described in clause (ii). 

10 ‘‘(B) The following officials are covered by this 

11 paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(i) The Comptroller of the United States. 

13 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(iii) State or local educational authorities. 

15 ‘‘(iv) The Attorney General. 

16 ‘‘(C) Any data collected by an official listed in 

17 subparagraph (B) shall be protected in a manner 

18 that will not permit the personal identification of 

19 students and their parents by other than such offi20 cial, and such education records and personally iden21 tifiable information in such records shall be de22 stroyed when no longer needed for the audit, evalua23 tion, and enforcement of legal requirements de24 scribed in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph 

25 (A). 


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1 ‘‘(6) Organizations conducting a study for, or 

2 on behalf of, an educational agency or institution, 

3 provided that— 

4 ‘‘(A) such study is conducted in such a 

5 manner as will not permit the personal identi6 fication of students and their parents by per7 sons other than representatives of such organi8 zations and such personally identifiable infor9 mation will be destroyed when no longer needed 

10 for the purpose of the study; 

11 ‘‘(B) the organization has agreed to and 

12 has appropriate security that meets the infor13 mation security requirements of subparagraphs 

14 (A) and (C) of subsection (b)(6); and 

15 ‘‘(C) the purpose of the study is limited to 

16 improving the academic outcomes of students 

17 attending that educational agency or institu18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(7) Officials in connection with a student’s ap20 plication for, or receipt of, financial aid. 

21 ‘‘(8) State and local officials or authorities to 

22 whom personally identifiable information in edu23 cation records is specifically allowed to be reported 

24 or disclosed pursuant to a State statute regarding 

25 the juvenile justice system. 


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1 ‘‘(9) The Secretary of Agriculture, or the des2 ignee of the Secretary from the Food and Nutrition 

3 Service acting on behalf of the Food and Nutrition 

4 Service, for the purposes of conducting program 

5 monitoring, evaluations, and performance measure6 ments of State and local educational and other agen7 cies and institutions receiving funding or providing 

8 benefits of 1 or more programs authorized under the 

9 Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 

10 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) or the Child Nutrition Act of 

11 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) for which the results 

12 will be reported in an aggregate form that does not 

13 identify any individual, on the conditions that— 

14 ‘‘(A) any data collected under this para15 graph shall be protected in a manner that will 

16 not permit the personal identification of stu17 dents and their parents by anyone other than 

18 the Secretary of Agriculture or the designee of 

19 such Secretary; 

20 ‘‘(B) any personally identifiable informa21 tion shall be destroyed when the information is 

22 no longer needed for program monitoring, eval23 uations, or performance measurements; and 

24 ‘‘(C) the parents of the student have been 

25 notified that the student’s education records 


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1 will be disclosed for the purposes described in 

2 this paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(10) Accrediting organizations in order to 

4 carry out their accrediting functions. 

5 ‘‘(11) Parents of a dependent student of such 

6 parents, as defined in section 152 of the Internal 

7 Revenue Code of 1986. 

8 ‘‘(12) In connection with an emergency, appro9 priate persons if the knowledge of such information 

10 is necessary to protect the health or safety of the 

11 student or other persons. 

12 ‘‘(13) Teachers and school officials who have le13 gitimate educational interest in the behavior of the 

14 student, including teachers and school officials in 

15 another educational agency or institution who need 

16 to know information in the education record of a 

17 student to protect the safety of their students, if the 

18 information concerns disciplinary action taken 

19 against a student for conduct that posed a signifi20 cant risk to the safety or well-being of that student, 

21 other students, or other members of the educational 

22 agency or institution community. 

23 ‘‘(14)(A) An agency caseworker or other rep24 resentative of a State or local child welfare agency, 

25 or tribal organization (as defined in section 4 of the 


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1 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

2 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)), who has the right to access 

3 a foster youth’s case plan (as defined and deter4 mined by the State or tribal organization), when 

5 such agency or organization is legally responsible (in 

6 accordance with State or tribal law), for the care 

7 and protection of the student in foster care place8 ment, provided that the education records, or the 

9 personally identifiable information contained in such 

10 records, of the student will not be released by such 

11 agency or organization, except to an individual or 

12 entity engaged in addressing the student’s education 

13 needs and authorized by such agency or organization 

14 to receive such disclosure, and such disclosure is 

15 consistent with the State or tribal laws applicable to 

16 protecting the confidentiality of a student’s edu17 cation records. 

18 ‘‘(B) Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a 

19 State from further limiting the number or type of 

20 State or local officials who will continue to have ac21 cess under this paragraph.’’. 

22 (b) TRANSFER AND REDESIGNATIONS.—(1) Sub23 section (b)(1) (20 U.S.C. 1232g(b)(1)) is amended by 

24 moving subparagraph (J) so that it appears at the end 

25 of subsection (c) (as so amended). 


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1 (2) Subparagraph (J) of subsection (c) (20 U.S.C. 

2 1232g(c)), as amended by paragraph (1), is further 

3 amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘(J)(i)’’ and inserting ‘‘(15)’’; 

5 and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘(ii)’’ and inserting ‘‘(16)’’. 

7 SEC. 6. DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS FOR COLLEGE ADMIS8 SIONS, CREDIT, AND AID. 

9 Subsection (d) (20 U.S.C. 1232g(d)) is amended to 

10 read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE OF RECORDS FOR COLLEGE AD12 MISSIONS, CREDIT, AND AID.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Records, files, documents, 

14 information, or other materials that are collected 

15 during or based on the administration of an exam16 ination that meets the requirements of paragraph 

17 (2) may be used or released by the developer of such 

18 examination, provided that— 

19 ‘‘(A) such developer is not an educational 

20 agency or institution or State educational au21 thority; and 

22 ‘‘(B) such records, files, documents, infor23 mation, or other materials are released by such 

24 developer solely for the purposes of college ad25 missions, college placement, college academic 


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1 credit, or college scholarships to any entity eli2 gible to receive funds under title IV of the 

3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 

4 et seq.) or any entity that has a legitimate in5 terest in such records, files, documents, infor6 mation, or other materials to award scholar7 ships to a student for attendance at an institu8 tion of higher education. 

9 ‘‘(2) EXAMINATION.—An examination covered 

10 under paragraph (1) is an examination that— 

11 ‘‘(A) may culminate in academic credit 

12 that is widely accepted by institutions of higher 

13 education; 

14 ‘‘(B) is norm-referenced and used for col15 lege admissions or scholarship purposes; or 

16 ‘‘(C) is administered by institutions of 

17 higher education for purposes of college place18 ment.’’. 

19 SEC. 7. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 

20 Subsection (e) (20 U.S.C. 1232g(e)) is amended to 

21 read as follows: 

22 ‘‘(e) RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

23 ‘‘(1) DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed to prohibit an institution 

3 of higher education from disclosing— 

4 ‘‘(i) to an alleged victim of any crime 

5 of violence (as that term is defined in sec6 tion 26 of title 18, United States Code), or 

7 a nonforcible sex offense, the final results 

8 of any disciplinary proceeding conducted 

9 by such institution against the alleged per10 petrator of such crime or offense with re11 spect to such crime or offense; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) the final results of any discipli13 nary proceeding conducted by such institu14 tion against a student who is an alleged 

15 perpetrator of any crime of violence (as 

16 that term is defined in section 16 of title 

17 18, United States Code), or a nonforcible 

18 sex offense, if the institution determines as 

19 a result of that disciplinary proceeding 

20 that the student committed a violation of 

21 the institution’s rules or policies with re22 spect to such crime or offense. 

23 ‘‘(B) DEFINITION.—For the purpose of 

24 this paragraph, the final results of any discipli25 nary proceeding— 


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1 ‘‘(i) shall include only the name of the 

2 student, the violation committed, and any 

3 sanction imposed by the institution on that 

4 student; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) may include the name of any 

6 other student, such as a victim or witness, 

7 only with the written consent of that other 

8 student. 

9 ‘‘(2) DRUG AND ALCOHOL DISCLOSURES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act or 

11 the Higher Education Act of 1965 shall be con12 strued to prohibit an institution of higher edu13 cation from disclosing, to a parent or legal 

14 guardian of a student, information regarding 

15 any violation of any Federal, State, or local law, 

16 or of any rule or policy of the institution, gov17 erning the use or possession of alcohol or a con18 trolled substance, regardless of whether that in19 formation is contained in the student’s edu20 cation records, if— 

21 ‘‘(i) the student is under the age of 

22 21; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) the institution determines that 

24 the student has committed a disciplinary 


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1 violation with respect to such use or pos2 session. 

3 ‘‘(B) STATE LAW REGARDING DISCLO4 SURE.—Nothing in this paragraph shall be con5 strued to supersede any provision of State law 

6 that prohibits an institution of higher education 

7 from making the disclosure described in sub8 paragraph (A). 

9 ‘‘(3) ADAM WALSH CHILD PROTECTION AND

10 SAFETY ACT OF 2006.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act 

12 shall be construed to prohibit an educational 

13 agency or institution from disclosing informa14 tion provided to the agency or institution under 

15 the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety 

16 Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16901 et seq.). 

17 ‘‘(B) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall 

18 take appropriate steps to notify educational 

19 agencies and institutions that disclosure of in20 formation described in subparagraph (A) is per21 mitted.’’. 

22 SEC. 8. OTHER DISCLOSURES. 

23 Such section (20 U.S.C. 1232g) is further amend24 ed— 

25 (1) by striking subsection (f); and 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsection (j) as sub2 section (f). 

3 SEC. 9. MARKETING AND ADVERTISING BAN. 

4 Subsection (g) (20 U.S.C. 1232g(g)) is amended to 

5 read as follows: 

6 ‘‘(g) MARKETING AND ADVERTISING BAN.— 

7 ‘‘(1) GENERAL PROHIBITION.—No person with 

8 access to an education record or a student’s person9 ally identifiable information contained in the edu10 cation record shall market or otherwise advertise di11 rectly to students with the use of the information 

12 gained through access to such record or information. 

13 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO EDUCATION

14 SERVICE PROVIDERS.—Subject to paragraph (3), an 

15 educational agency or institution or State edu16 cational authority shall not contract or enter into an 

17 agreement with an education service provider that 

18 has a policy or practice of using, releasing, or other19 wise providing access to personally identifiable infor20 mation in the education record of a student— 

21 ‘‘(A) to advertise or market a product or 

22 service; or 

23 ‘‘(B) for the development of commercial 

24 products or services. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTIONS.—The prohibitions described 

2 in paragraph (2) shall not apply with respect to— 

3 ‘‘(A) official school pictures, class rings, 

4 yearbooks, or other traditional school-sanc5 tioned commemorative products, events, or ac6 tivities; 

7 ‘‘(B) personally identifiable information 

8 which may be used by an education service pro9 vider to develop, diagnose, or deliver services to 

10 improve a student’s academic outcomes or to 

11 assist an educational agency or institution to 

12 develop, diagnose, or deliver services to improve 

13 a student’s academic outcomes; 

14 ‘‘(C) an educational agency or institution 

15 or State educational authority sharing informa16 tion on educational opportunities offered by 

17 such agency, institution, or authority; or 

18 ‘‘(D) in a case in which the parent of a 

19 student at an educational agency or institution 

20 has provided written consent for an educational 

21 service provider described in paragraph (2) to 

22 carry out the activities described in such para23 graph with the personally identifiable informa24 tion contained in such student’s education 

25 record.’’. 


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1 SEC. 10. GENERAL RULES ON DISCLOSURE OR RELEASE OF 

2 INFORMATION. 

3 Subsection (h) (20 U.S.C. 1232g(h)) is amended to 

4 read as follows: 

5 ‘‘(h) GENERAL RULES ON DISCLOSURE OR RELEASE

6 OF INFORMATION.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A disclosure or release of 

8 education records or personally identifiable informa9 tion in such records under this section shall be lim10 ited to records or information determined by the ap11 propriate educational agency or institution or State 

12 educational authority to be necessary to meet the 

13 specific conditions of the permitted disclosures listed 

14 under subsection (c). 

15 ‘‘(2) STATE OR LOCAL LAWS.—A State or local 

16 law may further restrict the permitted disclosures or 

17 release of information under subsection (c) or pro18 vide additional rights to parents with respect to the 

19 disclosure of education records (or the personally 

20 identifiable information contained therein).’’. 

21 SEC. 11. ENFORCEMENT. 

22 Subsection (i) (20 U.S.C. 1232g(i)) is amended to 

23 read as follows: 

24 ‘‘(i) ENFORCEMENT.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall take 

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1 dress violations of this section, in accordance with 

2 this Act, except that action to terminate assistance 

3 may be taken only if the Secretary finds there has 

4 been a failure to comply with this section, and the 

5 Secretary has determined that compliance cannot be 

6 secured by voluntary means. 

7 ‘‘(2) FINES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES AND INSTI9 TUTIONS.—The Secretary may impose, on an 

10 educational agency or institution, or State edu11 cational authority, for failure to voluntarily 

12 comply with this section or for a substantial 

13 violation of this section (which may include a 

14 single violation), a fine equal to a minimum of 

15 $100 and a maximum of $1,500,000, depending 

16 on the severity of the violation, except in no 

17 case may such a fine exceed 10 percent of the 

18 annual budget of such agency or institution, or 

19 authority. 

20 ‘‘(B) OTHER PARTIES.—With respect to a 

21 release of an education record or personally 

22 identifiable information contained therein, 

23 which was made by a party that is not subject 

24 to a fine under subparagraph (A), and which 

25 violates this section because the release was 


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1 made without the parental consent required 

2 under this section, or in violation of a written 

3 agreement entered into under this section or 

4 another provision of this section, the Secretary 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) refer such violation, and the sup7 porting material for such violation, to the 

8 Commissioner of the Federal Trade Com9 mission or the Attorney General for action; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(ii) require the educational agency or 

12 institution, or local educational agency or 

13 State educational authority involved to 

14 prohibit access to such personally identifi15 able information by such party (or individ16 uals who worked for or with such party at 

17 the time of such violation) for a period of 

18 not less than 5, and not more than 12 

19 years, as determined by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘(3) DISTRIBUTION OF CERTAIN MONETARY

21 PENALTIES COLLECTED.—Any monetary penalty or 

22 settlement collected under this subsection with re23 spect to an offense punishable under this section 

24 shall be transferred to the Secretary to be used for 

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1 vacy and security and enforcing the provisions of 

2 this section.’’. 

3 SEC. 12. COMPLIANCE OFFICE. 

4 Such section (20 U.S.C. 1232g) is further amended 

5 by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(j) COMPLIANCE OFFICE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall estab8 lish or designate an office within the Department for 

9 the purpose of investigating, processing, reviewing, 

10 and adjudicating violations of this section and inves11 tigating, processing, reviewing, and adjudicating 

12 complaints which may be filed concerning alleged 

13 violations of this section. This office shall be the of14 ficial office within the Department to address pri15 vacy concerns in student education records. 

16 ‘‘(2) REGIONAL OFFICES.—Except for the con17 duct of hearings, none of the functions of the Sec18 retary under this section shall be carried out in any 

19 of the regional offices of such Department.’’. 

20 SEC. 13. PROHIBITION ON DATA GATHERING. 

21 Such section (20 U.S.C. 1232g) (as amended by sec22 tion 12) is further amended by adding at the end the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(k) PROHIBITION ON DATA GATHERING.—No sur25 vey or data-gathering activities shall be conducted by the 


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1 Secretary, or an administrative head of an education agen2 cy under an applicable program, unless such activities are 

3 authorized by Federal law.’’. 

4 SEC. 14. REGULATIONS. 

5 Such section (20 U.S.C. 1232g) (as amended by sec6 tion 13) is further amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘(l) REGULATIONS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in accord10 ance with this section and section 446, shall adopt 

11 appropriate regulations or procedures or identify ex12 isting regulations or procedures, which protect the 

13 rights of privacy of students and their families in 

14 connection with any surveys or data-gathering activi15 ties conducted, assisted, or authorized by the Sec16 retary or an administrative head of an education 

17 agency and ensure that parents are aware of their 

18 rights under those sections. 

19 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—Regulations established 

20 under this subsection shall include provisions con21 trolling the use, dissemination, and protection of 

22 such data.’’. 


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1 SEC. 15. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Such section (20 U.S.C. 1232g) (as amended by sec3 tion 14) is further amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(m) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘authorized 

8 representative’ means any individual, agency, or 

9 organization— 

10 ‘‘(i) who is an employee or contractor 

11 designated by an official listed in sub12 section (c)(5)(B) to conduct an activity de13 scribed in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of sub14 section (c)(5)(A); and 

15 ‘‘(ii) who is under the direct control of 

16 an official listed in subsection (c)(5)(B) 

17 with respect to the use and maintenance of 

18 education records. 

19 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON RELEASE OF INFOR20 MATION.—An authorized representative shall 

21 not release to any individual, agency, or organi22 zation, any education records or personally 

23 identifiable information of a student collected 

24 while serving as an authorized representative, 

25 except that an authorized representative may 

26 release such records or such information in a 


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1 case in which the authorized representative is in 

2 compliance with information security require3 ments of subparagraphs (A) and (C) of sub4 section (b)(6), and such representative— 

5 ‘‘(i) has written consent from the stu6 dent’s parents specifying the education 

7 records to be released; 

8 ‘‘(ii) releases such records or informa9 tion to the official under whom the author10 ized representative is an employee or con11 tractor; or 

12 ‘‘(iii) releases such records or infor13 mation— 

14 ‘‘(I) in compliance with the pub15 lically available, written agreement 

16 specifying the terms of such release 

17 and permitting such release without 

18 the written consent of the student’s 

19 parents; and 

20 ‘‘(II) under the approval of the 

21 official under whom such representa22 tive is working as an employee or con23 tractor. 

24 ‘‘(2) DIRECTORY INFORMATION.—The term ‘di25 rectory information’ includes, with respect to a stuVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Jul 25, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3157.IH H3157

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1 dent, the student’s name, address, telephone listing, 

2 electronic mail address, date and place of birth, 

3 major field of study, grade level, and enrollment sta4 tus in higher education, dates of attendance, partici5 pation in officially recognized activities and sports, 

6 weight and height (if the student is a member of an 

7 athletic team for an official game program or roster 

8 at an educational agency or institution), dates of at9 tendance, degrees, honors and awards received, and 

10 the name of the educational agency or institution 

11 most recently attended by the student. 

12 ‘‘(3) EDUCATIONAL AGENCY OR INSTITUTION.— 

13 The term ‘educational agency or institution’ means 

14 any public or private elementary school or secondary 

15 school, local educational agency, or institution of 

16 higher education, which is— 

17 ‘‘(A) principally engaged in the provision 

18 of education, including early childhood edu19 cation, to students; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the recipient of funds under an appli21 cable program. 

22 ‘‘(4) EDUCATION RECORDS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

24 subparagraph (B), the term ‘education records’ 

25 means those records, files, documents, and 


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1 other materials which contain information di2 rectly related to a student and are— 

3 ‘‘(i) maintained, electronically, 

4 digitally, or physically, by an educational 

5 agency or institution, or by a person acting 

6 for such agency or institution; 

7 ‘‘(ii) accessible, collected, used, or 

8 maintained by a party described in sub9 section (c)(2) in the course of providing 

10 services to a school official; or 

11 ‘‘(iii) created by or for a State edu12 cational authority, without regard to 

13 whether the student who attends a school 

14 subject to this section attends a school 

15 under the jurisdiction of such State edu16 cational authority. 

17 ‘‘(B) LIMITATIONS.—The term ‘education 

18 records’ does not include— 

19 ‘‘(i) records of instructional, super20 visory, and administrative personnel and 

21 educational personnel ancillary thereto 

22 which are not created in conjunction with 

23 the student and are in the sole possession 

24 of the maker thereof and which are not ac25 cessible or revealed to any other person; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) records maintained by a law en2 forcement unit of the educational agency 

3 or institution that were created by that law 

4 enforcement unit for the purpose of law 

5 enforcement; 

6 ‘‘(iii) in the case of persons who are 

7 employed by an educational agency or in8 stitution but who are not in attendance at 

9 such agency or institution, records made 

10 and maintained in the normal course of 

11 business which relate exclusively to such 

12 person in that person’s capacity as an em13 ployee and are not available for use for any 

14 other purpose; or 

15 ‘‘(iv) records on a student who is 18 

16 years of age or older, or is attending an in17 stitution of higher education, which are 

18 made or maintained by a physician, psy19 chiatrist, psychologist, or other recognized 

20 professional or paraprofessional acting in 

21 his professional or paraprofessional capac22 ity, or assisting in that capacity, and which 

23 are made, maintained, or used only in con24 nection with the provision of treatment to 

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1 one other than the student (if showing the 

2 student the records would not be detri3 mental to the student or others) or persons 

4 providing such treatment, except that such 

5 records can be personally reviewed by a 

6 physician or other appropriate professional 

7 of the student’s choice. 

8 ‘‘(C) MAINTAIN.—The term ‘maintain’ 

9 when used with respect to an education record, 

10 means keeping, retaining, conserving, or pre11 serving such education record, in any manner, 

12 whether physically, electronically or digitally, 

13 for any non-trivial length of time, except that 

14 student tests and papers that are peer-graded 

15 are not maintained until such tests or papers 

16 are turned into or collected by the teacher or 

17 other school official involved. 

18 ‘‘(5) EDUCATION SERVICE PROVIDER.—The 

19 term ‘education service provider’ means any pro20 vider, other than a school official or employee, of 

21 services developed and targeted to students for an 

22 educational purpose, whether specifically marketed 

23 to schools, institutions of higher education, edu24 cational agency or institution employees or officers, 


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1 or other individuals primarily engaged in the provi2 sion of education services. 

3 ‘‘(6) ESEA TERMS.—The terms ‘elementary 

4 school’, ‘secondary school’, and ‘local educational 

5 agency’ have the meanings given such terms in sec6 tion 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu7 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

8 ‘‘(7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

9 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

10 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

11 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002). 

12 ‘‘(8) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMA13 TION.—The term ‘personally identifiable informa14 tion’ means— 

15 ‘‘(A) any information (such as a student’s 

16 name, Social Security number, email address, 

17 or parent’s name), or compilation of informa18 tion, in electronic, digital, or paper form that, 

19 alone or in combination, is linked or linkable to 

20 a specific student that would allow a reasonable 

21 person in the school community, who does not 

22 have personal knowledge of the relevant cir23 cumstances, to identify the student with reason24 able certainty; 


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1 ‘‘(B) biometric information, including any 

2 record of one or more measurable biological or 

3 behavioral characteristics that may be used for 

4 automated recognition of a student, such as fin5 gerprints, retina and iris patterns, voiceprints, 

6 DNA sequence, facial characteristics, and hand7 writing; or 

8 ‘‘(C) information in an education record 

9 requested by a person who an educational agen10 cy or institution reasonably believes knows the 

11 identity of the student to whom the education 

12 record relates. 

13 ‘‘(9) STATE EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITY.—The 

14 term ‘State educational authority’ means a State 

15 agency or other entity in charge of the education 

16 programs of a State. 

17 ‘‘(10) STUDENT.—The term ‘student’ includes 

18 any person with respect to whom an educational 

19 agency or institution maintains education records or 

20 personally identifiable information, but does not in21 clude a person who has not been in attendance at 

22 such agency or institution.’’. 


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1 SEC. 16. CONFORMING AMENDMENT. 

2 Section 446(a) of the General Education Provisions 

3 Act (20 U.S.C. 1232i(a)) is amended by striking 

4 ‘‘444(b)(1)(D)’’ and inserting ‘‘444(c)(7)’’. 

5 SEC. 17. FERPA REGULATIONS. 

6 The definition of the terms ‘‘early childhood edu7 cation program’’ and ‘‘education program’’ in section 99.3 

8 of title 34, Code of Federal Regulations, are repealed and 

9 shall have no legal effect. 

Æ 


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