(a) Identity of financial institutions. Notwithstanding section 604 or any other provision of this title,
a consumer reporting agency shall furnish to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation the names and addresses of all financial institutions
(as that term is defined in section 1101 of the Right to Financial
Privacy Act of 1978) at which a consumer maintains or has maintained
an account, to the extent that information is in the files of the
agency, when presented with a written request for that information
that includes a term that specifically identifies a consumer or account
to be used as the basis for the production of that information, signed
by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the Director’s
designee in a position not lower than Deputy Assistant Director at
Bureau headquarters or a Special Agent in Charge of a Bureau field
office designated by the Director, which certifies compliance with
this section. The Director or the Director’s designee may make such
a certification only if the Director or the Director’s designee has
determined in writing, that such information is sought for the conduct
of an authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism
or clandestine intelligence activities, provided that such an investigation
of a United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of
activities protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of
the United States.
(b) Identifying
information. Notwithstanding the provisions of section 604 or
any other provision of this title, a consumer reporting agency shall
furnish identifying information respecting a consumer, limited to
name, address, former addresses, places of employment, or former places
of employment, to the Federal Bureau of Investigation when presented
with a written request that includes a term that specifically identifies
a consumer or account to be used as the basis for the production of
that information, signed by the Director or the Director’s designee
in a position not lower than Deputy Assistant Director at Bureau headquarters
or a Special Agent in Charge of a Bureau field office designated by
the Director, which certifies compliance with this subsection. The
Director or the Director’s designee may make such a certification
only if the Director or the Director’s designee has determined in
writing that such information is sought for the conduct of an authorized
investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine
intelligence activities, provided that such an investigation of a
United States person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities
protected by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United
States.
(c) Court order for disclosure
of consumer reports. Notwithstanding section 604 or any other
provision of this title, if requested in writing by the Director of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or a designee of the Director
in a position not lower than Deputy Assistant Director
at Bureau headquarters or a Special Agent in Charge in a Bureau field
office designated by the Director, a court may issue an order ex parte,
which shall include a term that specifically identifies a consumer
or account to be used as the basis for the production of the information,
directing a consumer reporting agency to furnish a consumer report
to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, upon a showing in camera that
the consumer report is sought for the conduct of an authorized investigation
to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence
activities, provided that such an investigation of a United States
person is not conducted solely upon the basis of activities protected
by the first amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
The terms of an order issued under this subsection shall not
disclose that the order is issued for purposes of a counterintelligence
investigation.
6-1577.24
(d) Prohibition of
certain disclosure.
(1) (A) If a certification is issued
under subparagraph (B) and notice of the right to judicial review
under subsection (e) is provided, no consumer reporting agency that
receives a request under subsection (a) or (b) or an order under subsection
(c), or officer, employee, or agent thereof, shall disclose or specify
in any consumer report, that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has
sought or obtained access to information or records under subsection
(a), (b), or (c).
(B) The requirements
of subparagraph (A) shall apply if the Director of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, or a designee of the Director whose rank shall be
no lower than Deputy Assistant Director at Bureau headquarters or
a Special Agent in Charge of a Bureau field office, certifies that
the absence of a prohibition of disclosure under this subsection may
result in—
(i) a danger
to the national security of the United States;
(ii) interference with a criminal, counterterrorism,
or counterintelligence investigation;
(iii) interference with diplomatic relations; or
(iv) danger to the life or physical safety
of any person.
(2) (A) A consumer reporting agency
that receives a request under subsection (a) or (b) or an order under
subsection (c), or officer, employee, or agent thereof, may disclose
information otherwise subject to any applicable nondisclosure requirement
to—
(i) those persons
to whom disclosure is necessary in order to comply with the request;
(ii) an attorney in order to obtain legal
advice or assistance regarding the request; or
(iii) other persons as permitted by the Director
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the designee of the Director.
(B) A person to
whom disclosure is made under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to
the nondisclosure requirements applicable to a person to whom a request
under subsection (a) or (b) or an order under subsection (c) is issued
in the same manner as the person to whom the request is issued.
(C) Any recipient that discloses
to a person described in subparagraph (A) information otherwise subject
to a nondisclosure requirement shall inform the person of the applicable
nondisclosure requirement.
(D)
At the request of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
or the designee of the Director, any person making or intending to
make a disclosure under clause (i) or (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall
identify to the Director or such designee the person to whom such
disclosure will be made or to whom such disclosure was made prior
to the request.
(e) Judicial review.
(1) A request under subsection (a) or (b)
or an order under subsection (c) or a non-disclosure requirement imposed
in connection with such request under subsection (d) shall
be subject to judicial review under section 3511 of title 18, United
States Code.
(2) A request under
subsection (a) or (b) or an order under subsection (c) shall include
notice of the availability of judicial review described in paragraph
(1).
(f) Payment of fees. The Federal Bureau of Investigation shall, subject to the availability
of appropriations, pay to the consumer reporting agency assembling
or providing report or information in accordance with procedures established
under this section a fee for reimbursement for such costs as are reasonably
necessary and which have been directly incurred in searching, reproducing,
or transporting books, papers, records, or other data required or
requested to be produced under this section.
(g) Limit on dissemination. The Federal Bureau
of Investigation may not disseminate information obtained pursuant
to this section outside of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, except
to other Federal agencies as may be necessary for the approval or
conduct of a foreign counterintelligence investigation, or, where
the information concerns a person subject to the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, to appropriate investigative authorities within the military
department concerned as may be necessary for the conduct of a joint
foreign counterintelligence investigation.
(h) Rules of construction. Nothing in this
section shall be construed to prohibit information from being furnished
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation pursuant to a subpoena or court
order, in connection with a judicial or administrative proceeding
to enforce the provisions of this Act. Nothing in this section shall
be construed to authorize or permit the withholding of information
from the Congress.
6-1577.25
(i) Reports to Congress.
(1) On a semiannual
basis, the Attorney General shall fully inform the Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Banking, Finance and
Urban Affairs of the House of Representatives, and the Select Committee
on Intelligence and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
of the Senate concerning all requests made pursuant to subsections
(a), (b), and (c).
(2) In the case
of the semiannual reports required to be submitted under paragraph
(1) to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House
of Representatives and the Select Committee on Intelligence of the
Senate, the submittal dates for such reports shall be as provided
in section 507 of the National Security Act of 1947.
(j) Damages. Any agency or department
of the United States obtaining or disclosing any consumer reports,
records, or information contained therein in violation of this section
is liable to the consumer to whom such consumer reports, records,
or information relate in an amount equal to the sum of—
(1) $100, without regard to the volume
of consumer reports, records, or information involved;
(2) any actual damages sustained by the
consumer as a result of the disclosure;
(3) if the violation is found to have been
willful or intentional, such punitive damages as a court may allow;
and
(4) in the case of any successful
action to enforce liability under this subsection, the costs of the
action, together with reasonable attorney fees, as determined by the
court.
(k) Disciplinary
actions for violations. If a court determines that any agency
or department of the United States has violated any provision of this
section and the court finds that the circumstances surrounding the
violation raise questions of whether or not an officer or employee
of the agency or department acted willfully or intentionally with
respect to the violation, the agency or department shall promptly
initiate a proceeding to determine whether or not disciplinary action
is warranted against the officer or employee who was responsible for
the violation.
(l) Good-faith
exception. Notwithstanding any other provision of this title,
any consumer reporting agency or agent or employee thereof making
disclosure of consumer reports or identifying information pursuant
to this subsection in good-faith reliance upon a certification
of the Federal Bureau of Investigation pursuant to provisions of this
section shall not be liable to any person for such disclosure under
this title, the constitution of any State, or any law or regulation
of any State or any political subdivision of any State.
6-1577.26
(m) Limitation of remedies. Notwithstanding
any other provision of this title, the remedies and sanctions set
forth in this section shall be the only judicial remedies and sanctions
for violation of this section.
(n) Injunctive relief. In addition to any other remedy contained
in this section, injunctive relief shall be available to require compliance
with the procedures of this section. In the event of any successful
action under this subsection, costs together with reasonable attorney
fees, as determined by the court, may be recovered.
[15
USC 1681u. As added by act of Jan. 6, 1996 (109 Stat. 977) and amended
by acts of Oct. 26, 2001 (115 Stat. 327, 366); Nov. 27, 2002 (116
Stat. 2426); Dec. 4, 2003 (117 Stat. 1980); Mar. 9, 2006 (120 Stat.
214, 280); and June 2, 2015 (129 Stat. 282-83, 285-86, 290).]
