 Tuesday, November 26, 2002
|  | Colleges Can Decide What to Tell FBI About Foreign Students, Registrars' Group SaysBy MICHAEL ARNONE
A letter that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent colleges requesting certain information about their foreign students has prompted the Association of American College Registrars and Admissions Officers to remind colleges what data they do and do not have to give federal investigators. In a statement on its Web site, the association argues that the FBI is violating a federal law that protects student privacy, by asking institutions to give out information that legally requires a court order. The FBI contends, though, that it is doing a necessary job within legal limits. "What we're doing is consistent with the law," said Paul Bresson, a spokesman for the bureau. "There is nothing that prohibits us from asking for this kind of information." Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or Ferpa, institutions have the right to decide for themselves what information is available without a court order, said Shelley Rodgers, associate director of public relations and communications at the registrars' association. Colleges also must give students the right to decide whether they want any of their information to be made available. Colleges feel they are in a bind because they want to cooperate with law enforcement, but have to follow the federal privacy law, said Ms. Rodgers. "They've tied our hands because they have framed their request in a way we can't respond." The FBI believes that it is asking for publicly available information that does not require a court order, said Mr. Bresson. "We're expecting whatever they're willing to give us," he said. The agency realizes that each institution can decide how much to reveal, he said, and that academic institutions also have lawyers whose advice they can follow. The November 4 letter asks institutions for help in the fight against terrorism by assisting the FBI to identify counterintelligence agents and terrorists. To do that, the agency wants institutions to supply information about their foreign students, specifically "names, addresses, telephone numbers, citizenship information, places of birth, dates of birth, and any foreign contact information" for the past two years. The letter specifically mentions the federal privacy law when it states that the law "does not prohibit an educational institution from releasing a student's place of birth, citizenship, or foreign-contact information." The letter goes on to say, referring to another law that Congress passed last year in the wake of September 11, that the USA Patriot Act "has further granted educational institutions authority to release information to the federal government for use in combating terrorism." The letter "interprets the law in a way we've never seen it interpreted before" in the 28-year history of Ferpa, said Ms. Rodgers. The letter assumes that the FBI can request information on citizenship and foreign addresses that would normally require a court order to release, she said. It also interprets the USA Patriot Act in a way that would allow the FBI to acquire that data without a court order -- which the Patriot Act currently requires, she said. Becky Timmons, director of government relations at the American Council on Education, agreed. "The letter is noteworthy for what it leaves out," she said. More bluntly, she added, "The FBI is trying to do what the USA Patriot Act prevents and Ferpa has long prevented." Ms. Timmons worked on the educational-rights provisions in the Patriot Act, which include privacy protection for students. Specifically, she said, federal law prohibits law-enforcement officials from collecting information about large classes of people according to gender, nationality, or race, if the data are not needed for an investigation into a particular incident or crime. In its statement, the registrars' association reminded its 10,000 members that any release of restricted information, without a student's consent, requires a subpoena. It also suggested that all officials on a particular campus should coordinate all on-campus contact with law-enforcement officials to ensure that privacy laws are followed. |
Copyright � 2002 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
