7 USC 2276: Respondents' identity and unaggregated survey data

            
 
          Sec. 2276. Confidentiality of information


(a) Authorized disclosure

    In the case of information furnished under a provision of law 
referred to in subsection (d) of this section, neither the Secretary of 
Agriculture, any other officer or employee of the Department of 
Agriculture or agency thereof, nor any other person may--
        (1) use such information for a purpose other than the 
    development or reporting of aggregate data in a manner such that the 
    identity of the person who supplied such information is not 
    discernible and is not material to the intended uses of such 
    information;
        (2) disclose such information to the public, unless such 
    information has been transformed into a statistical or aggregate 
    form that does not allow the identification of the person who 
    supplied particular information; or
        (3) in the case of information collected under the authority 
    described in subsection (d)(12) of this section, disclose the 
    information to any person or any Federal, State, local, or tribal 
    agency outside the Department of Agriculture, unless the information 
    has been converted into a statistical or aggregate form that does 
    not allow the identification of the person that supplied particular 
    information.

(b) Duty of Secretary; immunity from disclosure; necessary consent

    (1) In carrying out a provision of law referred to in subsection (d) 
of this section, no department, agency, officer, or employee of the 
Federal Government, other than the Secretary of Agriculture, shall 
require a person to furnish a copy of statistical information provided 
to the Department of Agriculture.
    (2) A copy of such information--
        (A) shall be immune from mandatory disclosure of any type, 
    including legal process; and
        (B) shall not, without the consent of such person, be admitted 
    as evidence or used for any purpose in any action, suit, or other 
    judicial or administrative proceeding.

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(c) Violations; penalties

    Any person who shall publish, cause to be published, or otherwise 
publicly release information collected pursuant to a provision of law 
referred to in subsection (d) of this section, in any manner or for any 
purpose prohibited in section \1\ (a) of this section, shall be fined 
not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both.
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be ``subsection''.
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(d) Specific provisions for collection of information

    For purposes of this section, a provision of law referred to in this 
subsection means--
        (1) the first section of the Act entitled ``An Act authorizing 
    the Secretary of Agriculture to collect and publish statistics of 
    the grade and staple length of cotton'', approved March 3, 1927 (7 
    U.S.C. 471) (commonly referred to as the ``Cotton Statistics and 
    Estimates Act'');
        (2) the first section of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide 
    for the collection and publication of statistics of tobacco by the 
    Department of Agriculture'', approved January 14, 1929 (7 U.S.C. 
    501);
        (3) the first section of the Act entitled ``An Act to provide 
    for the collection and publication of statistics of peanuts by the 
    Department of Agriculture'', approved June 24, 1936 (7 U.S.C. 951);
        (4) section 203(g) of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 
    U.S.C. 1622(g));
        (5) section 526(a) of the Revised Statutes (7 U.S.C. 2204(a));
        (6) the Act entitled ``An Act providing for the publication of 
    statistics relating to spirits of turpentine and resin'', approved 
    August 15, 1935 (7 U.S.C. 2248);
        (7) section 42 of title 13;
        (8) section 4 of the Act entitled ``An Act to establish the 
    Department of Commerce and Labor'', approved February 14, 1903 (15 
    U.S.C. 1516);
        (9) section 2 of the joint resolution entitled ``Joint 
    resolution relating to the publication of economic and social 
    statistics for Americans of Spanish origin or descent'', approved 
    June 16, 1976 (15 U.S.C. 1516a);
        (10) section 3(e) of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable 
    Resources Research Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 1642(e));
        (11) section 2204g of this title; or
        (12) section 302 of the Rural Development Act of 1972 (7 U.S.C. 
    1010a) regarding the authority to collect data for the National 
    Resources Inventory.

(e) Information provided to Secretary of Commerce

    This section shall not prohibit the release of information under 
section 2204g(f)(2) of this title.

(Pub. L. 99-198, title XVII, Sec. 1770, Dec. 23, 1985, 99 Stat. 1657; 
Pub. L. 105-113, Sec. 4(a)(2), (b), Nov. 21, 1997, 111 Stat. 2276; Pub. 
L. 106-113, div. B, Sec. 1000(a)(3) [title III, Sec. 348], Nov. 29, 
1999, 113 Stat. 1535, 1501A-207; Pub. L. 107-171, title II, 
Sec. 2004(b), May 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 236.)


                               Amendments

    2002--Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 107-171, Sec. 2004(b)(1), added par. 
(3).
    Subsec. (d)(12). Pub. L. 107-171, Sec. 2004(b)(2), added par. (12).
    1999--Subsec. (d)(10), (11). Pub. L. 106-113 added par. (10) and 
redesignated former par. (10) as (11).
    1997--Subsec. (d)(10). Pub. L. 105-113, Sec. 4(a)(2), added par. 
(10).
    Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 105-113, Sec. 4(b), added subsec. (e).