After Campus Shootings, U.S. to Ease Privacy Rules

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The Federal Education Department proposed on Monday new regulations to clarify when universities may release confidential student information and, after the Virginia Tech shootings last year, reassure college officials that they will not face penalties for reporting fears about mentally ill students.

The proposed regulations were prompted by concerns that colleges were overemphasizing the students’ privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act to not intercede with young people who appear troubled.

Although the law has always had a health and safety exception that allows releasing confidential information in emergency situations, many college officials have been wary of invoking it, fearful of being found to violate the federal privacy law.

Even though the regulations would provide no major substantive changes, lawyers who specialize in education said they were important to the extent that they stop administrators from invoking the privacy act as an excuse for inaction.

NY Times