Federal government wants to ease rules on student privacy

The U.S. Education Department is proposing new regulations to clarify when universities may release confidential student information and to reassure college officials that they will not face penalties for reporting fears about mentally ill students. The proposed regulations were prompted by concerns that colleges were overemphasizing a student's privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Although the law always has had a health and safety exception that allows releasing confidential information in emergencies, many college officials have been wary of invoking it, fearful of being found to violate the federal privacy law.

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