I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5215
To protect the confidentiality of information acquired from the public for
statistical purposes, and to permit the exchange of business data among
designated statistical agencies for statistical purposes only.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 25, 2002
Mr. HORN (for himself, Mr. SAWYER, and Mrs. MALONEY of New York) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Govern-
ment Reform
A BILL
To protect the confidentiality of information acquired from
the public for statistical purposes, and to permit the
exchange of business data among designated statistical
agencies for statistical purposes only.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Confidential Informa-
tion Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act:
(1) The term ‘‘agency’’ means any entity that
falls within the definition of the term ‘‘executive
agency’’ as defined in section 102 of title 31, United
States Code, or ‘‘agency’’, as defined in section 3502
of title 44, United States Code.
(2) The term ‘‘agent’’—
(A) means an employee of a private organi-
zation or a researcher affiliated with an institu-
tion of higher learning (including a person
granted special sworn status by the Bureau of
the Census under section 23(c) of title 13,
United States Code) with whom a contract or
other agreement is executed, on a temporary
basis, by an executive agency to perform exclu-
sively statistical activities under the control and
supervision of an officer or employee of that
agency; or
(B) means an individual who is working
under the authority of a government entity with
which a contract or other agreement is executed
by an executive agency to perform exclusively
statistical activities under the control of an offi-
cer or employee of that agency; or
(C) means an individual who is a self-em-
ployed researcher, a consultant, or a contractor,
or who is an employee of a contractor and with
whom a contract or other agreement is executed
by an executive agency to perform a statistical
activity under the control of an officer or em-
ployee of that agency; or
(D) means an individual who is a con-
tractor or who is an employee of a contractor
engaged by the agency to design or maintain
the systems for handling or storage of data re-
ceived under this Act; and
(E) who agrees in writing to comply with
all provisions of law that affect information ac-
quired by that agency.
(3) The term ‘‘business data’’ means operating
and financial data and information about businesses,
tax-exempt organizations, and government entities.
(4) The term ‘‘identifiable form’’ means any
representation of information that permits informa-
tion concerning a specific respondent to be reason-
ably inferred by either direct or indirect means.
(5) The term ‘‘nonstatistical purpose’’—
(A) means the use of data in identifiable
form for any purpose that is not a statistical
purpose, including any administrative, regu-
latory, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or other
purpose that affects the rights, privileges, or
benefits of a particular identifiable respondent;
and
(B) includes the disclosure under section
552 of title 5, United States Code (the Free-
dom of Information Act) of data that are ac-
quired for exclusively statistical purposes under
a pledge of confidentiality.
(6) The term ‘‘respondent’’ means a person
who, or organization that, is requested or required
to supply information to an agency, is the subject of
information requested or required to be supplied to
an agency, or provides that information to an agen-
cy.
(7) The term ‘‘statistical activities’’—
(A) means the collection, compilation,
processing, or analysis of data for the purpose
of describing or making estimates concerning
the whole, or relevant groups or components
within, economy, society, or natural environ-
ment; and
(B) includes the development of methods
or resources that support those activities, such
as measurement methods, models, statistical
classifications, or sampling frames.
(8) The term ‘‘statistical agency or unit’’ means
an agency or organizational unit of the executive
branch whose activities are predominantly the collec-
tion, compilation, processing, or analysis of informa-
tion for statistical purposes.
(9) The term ‘‘statistical purpose’’—
(A) means the description, estimation, or
analysis of the characteristics of groups, with-
out identifying the individuals or organizations
that comprise such groups; and
(B) includes the development, implementa-
tion, or maintenance of methods, technical or
administrative procedures, or information re-
sources that support the purposes described in
subparagraph (A).
SEC. 3. COORDINATION AND OVERSIGHT OF POLICIES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall coordinate and oversee the
confidentiality and disclosure policies established by this
Act.
(b) REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF RULES.—The Direc-
tor shall review any rules proposed by an agency pursuant
to this Act for consistency with the provisions of this Act
and chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, and such
rules shall be subject to the approval of the Director.
SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
(a) SECTION 3510 OF TITLE 44, UNITED STATES
CODE.—This Act, including amendments made by this
Act, does not diminish the authority under section 3510
of title 44, United States Code, of the Director of the Of-
fice of Management and Budget to direct, and of an agen-
cy to make, disclosures that are not inconsistent with any
applicable law.
(b) SECTIONS 8, 16, 301, AND 401 OF TITLE 13 AND
SECTION 2108 OF TITLE 44, UNITED STATES CODE.—
This Act, including amendments made by this Act, does
not diminish the authority of the Bureau of the Census
to provide information in accordance with sections 8, 16,
301, and 401 of title 13 and section 2108 of title 44,
United States Code.
(c) SECTION 9 OF TITLE 13, UNITED STATES
CODE.—This Act, including amendments made by this
Act, shall not be construed as authorizing the disclosure
for nonstatistical purposes of demographic data or infor-
mation collected by the Census Bureau pursuant to section
9 of title 13, United States Code.
(d) SECTION 12 OF THE FEDERAL ENERGY ADMIN-
ISTRATION ACT OF 1974.—In accordance with the provi-
sions of this Act, data acquired for exclusively statistical
purposes under a pledge of confidentiality are exempt from
mandatory disclosure in identifiable form for nonstatis-