text: 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.
target: 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.
feat_title: To protect the confidentiality of information acquired from the public for statistical purposes.