§75. Report card; data exchange agreements; data distribution; personal identification prohibited

A. For the report card information component of the system, there shall be user-friendly formatted, objective factual performance information on training programs, including statistical information on placement rates, and other relevant data.

B. For the purpose of facilitating the objectives of this Part, public and private agencies engaged in, or responsible for, workforce development activities shall enter into interagency reciprocal data exchange agreements. Such agreements shall provide for automated record linkage and follow-up. To facilitate this process, each agency with workforce development data shall assign to each individual receiving its services a unique identifier to be used to link disparate data bases.

C.(1) Interagency data shall be distributed in a protected manner and in such a way so as not to permit the personal identification of any individual. If data is exchanged electronically on magnetic media, individually identifiable and firm-specific information shall be encrypted. Individually identifiable and firm-specific information shall be unencrypted during the file linkages performed in the computer systems' core memory. While in the possession of other agencies, all files containing personally identifiable and firm-specific information shall be stored in a secure environment.

(2) Data shall be exchanged only under strictly controlled conditions. It shall be destroyed after all legitimate uses have been made of it. Secondary release of confidential or privacy-protected data or use other than as authorized by this Part shall be strictly prohibited.

(3) In addition to any other civil or criminal penalties, any person found in violation of this Subsection shall be fined not less than five hundred dollars nor more than two thousand dollars for each offense.

D.(1) Subject to federal confidentiality requirements and limitations, the council, the division of administration, or any contractor working on their behalf, may be provided employment data obtained pursuant to the administration of this Part for any one of the expressly stated following purposes:

(a) Compiling statistics that would support performance management and evaluation by program managers of state and federal programs, especially as it relates to employment outcomes.

(b) Compiling statistics that would assist in the preparation of common performance reports across agencies.

(c) Compiling statistics for education and training research purposes, including longitudinal studies to assist in program improvement and design.

(2) Any employment data provided pursuant to this Section shall be confidential. No public employee or contractor acting on behalf of a state agency or employee of such contractor may do either of the following:

(a) Use any data provided pursuant to this Subsection for any purpose other than the statistical purposes for which the data is furnished.

(b) Make public any of the data provided pursuant to this Subsection that would allow the identity of any individual or employing unit to be inferred by either direct or indirect means.

(3)(a) Any such data, as provided in this Subsection, that is released to any state agency or any contractor acting on behalf of a state agency pursuant to this Subsection, may be released on a reimbursable basis and shall be used exclusively for execution of intended public duties. Such data shall not, under any circumstance, be accessed and used for any other purpose, subject to sanction of violators as provided for in Subparagraph (c) of this Paragraph. The administrator and the office of unemployment insurance administration shall not be liable for any violation by any employee of the commission, council, division of administration, or any contractor working on behalf of either agency, provided their receipt of such information was in accordance with the provisions of this Subsection.

(b) Any such data, as provided in this Section, that is received by any state agency or any contractor acting on behalf of a state agency pursuant to this Subsection, must be destroyed within thirty days following the completion of its intended purpose as described in this Section.

(c) Any person who violates any provision of this Section shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars or imprisoned for not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or both.

E. This component of the system shall be developed so that it may be available for access on the Internet.

Acts 1997, No. 1, §1, eff. April 30, 1997; Acts 2008, No. 743, §2, eff. July 1, 2008.