Sec. 105. Ensuring protection and confidentiality for human trafficking survivors
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/bill/117/hr/5150/ih/section-105·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
In order to ensure the safety of human trafficking survivors and their families— grantees and subgrantees receiving grants from any Federal funds shall protect the confidentiality and privacy of survivors and victims of human trafficking receiving their services; and each entity applying to receive Federal funds in the form of a grant shall be required to submit, in conjunction with such application, a privacy policy for human trafficking survivors and their families that is in accordance with the guidelines set forth under this section.
Subject to subsections (c), (d), and (e), grantees and subgrantees shall agree, as a condition of receiving Federal funds, to not— disclose, reveal, or release any personally identifying information or individual information collected in connection with services requested, used, or denied through grantees’ and subgrantees’ programs, regardless of whether the information has been encoded, encrypted, hashed, or otherwise protected; or disclose, reveal, or release individual client information without the informed, written, and reasonably time-limited consent of the person about whom information is sought, whether for this program or any other Federal, State, tribal, or territorial grant program.
For purposes of subsection (b)(2)— the informed, written, and reasonably time-limited consent described in such section in the case of an unemancipated minor must be obtained from both the minor and a parent or guardian (or, in the case of legal incapacity, a court-appointed guardian); and such consent may not be given by the alleged or convicted trafficker of the minor or incapacitated person, or the alleged or convicted trafficker of a parent or legal guardian of the minor or incapacitated person.
Notwithstanding the prohibition under subsection (b)(2), if a minor or a person with a legally appointed guardian is permitted by law to receive services without a parent’s or guardian’s consent, such minor or person with a guardian may release information without obtaining additional consent in accordance with paragraph (1). If the release of information described in subsection
(b)is compelled by statutory or court mandate— grantees and subgrantees shall make reasonable attempts to provide notice to victims affected by the disclosure of information; and grantees and subgrantees shall take steps necessary to protect the privacy and safety of the persons affected by the release of the information. Grantees and subgrantees may share— non-personally identifying data in the aggregate regarding services to their clients and non-personally identifying demographic information, in order to identify underserved populations and comply with Federal, State, tribal, or territorial reporting, evaluation, or data collection requirements; court-generated information and law enforcement-generated information contained in secure, governmental registries for protection order enforcement purposes; and law enforcement-generated and prosecution-generated information necessary for law enforcement and prosecution purposes. Under no circumstances may a grantee or subgrantee— require a human trafficking survivor to provide consent to release his or her personally identifying information as a condition of eligibility for the services provided by the grantee or subgrantee; or share any personally identifying information in order to comply with Federal, tribal, or State reporting, evaluation, or data collection requirements, whether for this program or any other Federal, tribal, or State grant program. Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit a grantee or subgrantee from reporting suspected human trafficking, exploitation, abuse or neglect, as those terms are defined and such reporting is specifically mandated by Federal, State, local or tribal laws.