article: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Confidential Information Protection Act''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following: (1) Consumers, citizens, businesses, and other organizations have varying degrees of legal protection when providing information to the Federal Government for strictly statistical purposes. (2) The integrity and credibility of pledges of confidentiality by the Federal Government provide assurances to the public that information about individuals or organizations or provided by individuals or organizations for exclusively statistical purposes will be held in confidence and will not be used against such individuals or organizations in any Federal Government action. (3) Protecting the privacy and confidentiality interests of individuals or organizations who provide information for Federal statistical programs serves both the interests of the public and the needs of society. (4) Declining trust of the public in the protection of information provided to the Federal Government adversely affects both the accuracy and completeness of statistical analyses. (5) Ensuring that information provided for statistical purposes receives protection is essential in continuing public cooperation in statistical programs. (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are the following: (1) To ensure that information supplied by individuals or organizations to an agency for statistical purposes is used exclusively for statistical purposes. (2) To ensure that individuals or organizations who supply information to the Federal Government for statistical purposes will not have that information disclosed in identifiable form for any purpose other than a statistical purpose, without the consent of such individuals or organizations. (3) To safeguard the confidentiality of individually identifiable information acquired for statistical purposes by controlling access to, and uses made of, such information. (4) To respect the rights and privileges of the public by observing and promoting fair information practices. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Act: (1) 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 agency. (2) The term ``identifiable form'' means any representation of information that permits information concerning individual subjects to be reasonably inferred by either direct or indirect means. (3) The term ``nonstatistical purpose'' means use of data in identifiable form for any purpose that is not a statistical purpose, and includes any administrative, regulatory, law enforcement, adjudicatory, or other purpose that affects the rights, privileges, or benefits of a particular identifiable respondent. (4) 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. (5) The term ``statistical purpose''-- (A) means the description, estimation, or analysis of the characteristics of groups without regard to the identities of individuals or organizations that comprise such groups; and (B) includes the development, implementation, or maintenance of methods, technical or administrative procedures, or information resources that support the purposes described in subparagraph (A). (6) The term ``statistical agency or unit'' means an agency or organizational unit of the executive branch whose activities are predominantly the collection, compilation, processing, or analysis of information for statistical purposes. (7) The term ``agent'' means a person designated by an executive agency to perform, either in the capacity of a Federal employee or otherwise, exclusively statistical activities under the supervision or control of an officer or employee of that agency, who agrees in writing to comply with all provisions of law that affect information acquired by that agency. SEC. 4. LIMITATIONS ON USE AND DISCLOSURE OF DATA AND INFORMATION. (a) Use of Statistical Data or Information.--Data or information acquired by an agency for exclusively statistical purposes shall be used by the agency only for statistical purposes. (b) Disclosure of Statistical Data or Information.--Data or information acquired by an agency for exclusively statistical purposes shall not be disclosed by an agency in identifiable form, for any purpose other than a statistical purpose, without the informed consent of the respondent. (c) Rule for Use of Data or Information for Nonstatistical Purposes.--A statistical agency or unit shall clearly distinguish any data or information it collects for nonstatistical purposes (as authorized by law) by a rule that provides that the respondent supplying the data or information is fully informed, before the data or information is collected, that the data or information will be used for nonstatistical purposes. (d) Designation of Agents.--A statistical agency or unit may designate agents who may perform exclusively statistical activities, subject to the limitations and penalties described in this Act. SEC. 5. 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 Director 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. 6. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. (a) Title 44, U.S.C.--This Act does not diminish the authority under section 3510 of title 44, United States Code, of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to direct, and of an agency to make, disclosures that are not inconsistent with any applicable law. (b) Exemption From Freedom of Information Act.--Data or information acquired for exclusively statistical purposes as described in section 4 is exempt from mandatory disclosure under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, pursuant to section 552(b)(3) of such title. (c) Preemption of State Law.--Nothing in this Act shall preempt applicable State law regarding the confidentiality of data collected by the States. (d) Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed as restricting or diminishing any confidentiality protections that otherwise apply to data or information collected for statistical purposes or nonstatistical purposes. SEC. 7. DISCLOSURE PENALTIES. An officer, employee, or agent of an agency who knowingly, without the informed consent of the respondent, discloses in identifiable form, for any purpose other than a statistical purpose, data or information acquired by an agency for an exclusively statistical purpose, shall be found guilty of a class E felony and imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than $250,000, or both.
summary: Confidential Information Protection Act - Requires data or information acquired by executive agencies for exclusively statistical purposes to be used only for such purposes.Prohibits data or information acquired by an agency for such purposes from being disclosed in identifiable form, for any purpose other than such a purpose, without the informed consent of the respondent.Requires a statistical agency to clearly distinguish any data or information it collects for nonstatistical purposes by a rule that provides that the respondent is fully informed that the information to be collected will be used for such purposes.Requires: (1) the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to coordinate and oversee such confidentiality and disclosure policies; and (2) any rules proposed by an agency pursuant to this Act to be subject to the Director's review and approval.Exempts data or information acquired for exclusively statistical purposes from mandatory disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act. Provides that this Act does not preempt applicable State law regarding the confidentiality of data collected by the States.Sets forth penalties for violations of this Act.