Protecting Education Privacy Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2724 To clarify the requirements of authorized representatives under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 14, 2019 Mr. LUETKEMEYER (for himself and Mr. COLE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To clarify the requirements of authorized representatives under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Education 4 Privacy Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO FERPA. 6 Section 444(b) of the General Education Provisions 7 Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g(b)) (commonly known as the ‘‘Fam- 8 ily Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’’) is 9 amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:09 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2724.IH H2724 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2724 IH (1) in paragraph (1)(C)(i)(III), by inserting ‘‘or 1 local’’ after ‘‘State’’; 2 (2) in paragraph (3)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘(A)’’ and inserting ‘‘(i)’’; 4 (B) by striking ‘‘(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘(ii)’’; 5 (C) by striking ‘‘(C)’’ and inserting ‘‘(iii)’’; 6 (D) by striking ‘‘(3) Nothing’’ and insert- 7 ing the following: ‘‘(3)(A) Nothing’’; 8 (E) by inserting ‘‘or local’’ after ‘‘State’’; 9 (F) by striking ‘‘programs:’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘programs.’’; 11 (G) by striking ‘‘Provided, That except’’ 12 and inserting the following: 13 ‘‘(B) Except’’; 14 (H) by striking ‘‘such officials’’ and insert- 15 ing ‘‘the officials described in items (i) through 16 (iii) of subparagraph (A)’’; and 17 (I) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(C)(i) For purposes of this section, the 19 term ‘authorized representative’ means an indi- 20 vidual who— 21 ‘‘(I) is designated as an authorized 22 representative by an official described in 23 item (i), (ii), or (iii) of subparagraph (A); 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2724.IH H2724 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2724 IH ‘‘(II) is under the direct control, as a 1 contractor or employee, of such official. 2 ‘‘(ii) An authorized representative shall not 3 release any personally identifiable information 4 contained in education records collected while 5 serving as an authorized representative to any 6 individual, agency, or organization, other than 7 the official under whom the authorized rep- 8 resentative is under the direct control.’’; and 9 (3) by adding at the end the following new 10 paragraph: 11 ‘‘(8)(A) Nothing in this section may be con- 12 strued to authorize the personally identifiable infor- 13 mation contained in education records of students to 14 be shared, without the written consent of their par- 15 ents, for the development of commercial products or 16 services. 17 ‘‘(B) In this section, the term ‘commercial 18 products or services’ does not include official school 19 pictures, class rings, yearbooks, or other traditional 20 school-sanctioned commemorative products, events, 21 or activities.’’. 22 SEC. 3. FERPA REGULATIONS. 23 (a) REPEALS.—The definitions of the terms ‘‘author- 24 ized representative’’, ‘‘early childhood education pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2724.IH H2724 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2724 IH gram’’, and ‘‘education program’’ in section 99.3 of title 1 34, Code of Federal Regulations, are repealed and shall 2 have no legal effect. 3 (b) CERTAIN REGULATIONS PROHIBITED.—The Sec- 4 retary of Education shall not promulgate or enforce any 5 regulation or rule that defines ‘‘early childhood education 6 program’’ or ‘‘education program’’ for any purpose under 7 section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 8 U.S.C. 1232g) (commonly known as the ‘‘Family Edu- 9 cational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974’’) on or after the 10 date of enactment of this Act. 11 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:10 May 28, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2724.IH H2724 tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with BILLS