Friday, October 12, 2001

Lawmakers Add Student-Privacy Protections to Proposed Antiterrorism Legislation By SARA HEBEL Washington Lawmakers are modifying antiterrorism legislation making its way through Congress to better protect student-privacy rights, satisfying college lobbyists who worried about earlier versions of the measures. The new language would allow certain federal officials to view some private student records to investigate federal terrorism offenses, but includes more limits on access than Bush administration officials originally had sought. Advocates for students and colleges had worried that President Bush's plan was so broad and vague that it would allow federal officials to examine many students' records with little or no proof that they had any connection to terrorist plots or activities. Some said it would be an open invitation for the U.S. government to racially profile students of Middle Eastern and South Asian descent and to browse through their files. The new provisions, which were negotiated between administration officials and members of Congress, further limit who can request confidential student records, require those officials to get a judge's permission to view those records, indicate generally how the information from students' files may be used, and add legal protections for individuals and institutions who turn over the records. The Senate passed its version (S. 1510) of the antiterrorist bill by a vote of 96-1 late Thursday. The House of Representatives was expected to begin floor debate on its proposal (H.R. 2975) as early as today. "We're quite happy with the language," Jon Fuller, senior fellow at the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said of the compromise provisions. The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevents colleges from releasing students' personal information without their written permission. However, the law allows for several exceptions, including a "health or safety emergency." Federal law-enforcement officials investigating the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States have been using that provision to obtain student data from many colleges. But colleges and government officials have been seeking clarification of when and how confidential information must be shared with U.S. officials. Under the new compromise provisions, only the U.S. attorney general or a designee who is employed at a level of assistant attorney general or above could request that colleges turn over private student records for terrorism investigations. The Bush administration's plan would have allowed any employee of the Justice Department or Education Department to seek the confidential information. In addition, federal officials seeking access to student records would, under the compromise, first have to get a court's certification that the U.S. government has "specific and articulable facts" that give rise to an interest in examining the records of a particular student in an investigation of domestic or international terrorist acts. The proposal also would limit federal officials' use of the information in confidential student records they receive to investigating and prosecuting terrorist offenses. And it would require the attorney general to issue guidelines on protecting confidentiality. Finally, the provisions would specifically protect colleges and their employees who, in good faith, turn over records under the new procedures for fighting terrorism from liability if students or others sued them under the educational-rights and privacy act. Background articles from The Chronicle: Bush Antiterrorist Proposals Raise Concerns About Students' Privacy Rights (9/24/2001) Education Dept. Eases Student-Privacy Rules for FBI's Terrorism Investigation (9/21/2001) Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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