15 U.S.C. § 1681u : US Code - Section 1681U: Disclosures to FBI for counterintelligence purposes

Search 15 U.S.C. § 1681u : US Code - Section 1681U: Disclosures to FBI for counterintelligence purposes

(a) Identity of financial institutions
Notwithstanding section 1681b of this title or any other
provision of this subchapter, 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 3401 of title 12) 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, 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 1681b of this title or
any other provision of this subchapter, 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, 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 1681b of this title or any other
provision of this subchapter, 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 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.
(d) Confidentiality
No consumer reporting agency or officer, employee, or agent of a
consumer reporting agency shall disclose to any person, other than
those officers, employees, or agents of a consumer reporting agency
necessary to fulfill the requirement to disclose information to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation under this section, that the
Federal Bureau of Investigation has sought or obtained the identity
of financial institutions or a consumer report respecting any
consumer under subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section, and no
consumer reporting agency or officer, employee, or agent of a
consumer reporting agency shall include in any consumer report any
information that would indicate that the Federal Bureau of
Investigation has sought or obtained such information or a consumer
report.
(e) 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.
(f) 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.
(g) 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 subchapter. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to authorize or permit the withholding of information
from the Congress.
(h) 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) of this section.
(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 415b of title 50.
(i) 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.
(j) 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.
(k) Good-faith exception
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, 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 subchapter, the constitution of any State, or any law or
regulation of any State or any political subdivision of any State.
(l) Limitation of remedies
Notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, the
remedies and sanctions set forth in this section shall be the only
judicial remedies and sanctions for violation of this section.
(m) 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.