50 U.S.C. § 3162 — Requests by authorized investigative

Page 746 TITLE 50—WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE § 3162 § 3162. Requests by authorized investigative agencies (a) Generally (1) Any authorized investigative agency may request from any financial agency, financial in- stitution, or holding company, or from any con- sumer reporting agency, such financial records, other financial information, and consumer re- ports as may be necessary in order to conduct any authorized law enforcement investigation, counterintelligence inquiry, or security deter- mination. Any authorized investigative agency may also request records maintained by any commercial entity within the United States per- taining to travel by an employee in the execu- tive branch of Government outside the United States. (2) Requests may be made under this section where— (A) the records sought pertain to a person who is or was an employee in the executive branch of Government required by the Presi- dent in an Executive order or regulation, as a condition of access to classified information, to provide consent, during a background inves- tigation and for such time as access to the in- formation is maintained, and for a period of not more than three years thereafter, permit- ting access to financial records, other finan- cial information, consumer reports, and travel records; and (B)(i) there are reasonable grounds to be- lieve, based on credible information, that the person is, or may be, disclosing classified in- formation in an unauthorized manner to a for- eign power or agent of a foreign power; (ii) information the employing agency deems credible indicates the person has incurred ex- cessive indebtedness or has acquired a level of affluence which cannot be explained by other information known to the agency; or (iii) circumstances indicate the person had the capability and opportunity to disclose classified information which is known to have been lost or compromised to a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power. (3) Each such request— (A) shall be accompanied by a written cer- tification signed by the department or agency head or deputy department or agency head concerned, or by a senior official designated for this purpose by the department or agency head concerned (whose rank shall be no lower than Assistant Secretary or Assistant Direc- tor), and shall certify that— (i) the person concerned is or was an em- ployee within the meaning of paragraph (2)(A); (ii) the request is being made pursuant to an authorized inquiry or investigation and is authorized under this section; and (iii) the records or information to be re- viewed are records or information which the employee has previously agreed to make available to the authorized investigative agency for review; (B) shall contain a copy of the agreement re- ferred to in subparagraph (A)(iii); (C) shall identify specifically or by category the records or information to be reviewed; and (D) shall inform the recipient of the request of the prohibition described in subsection (b). (b) Prohibition of certain disclosure (1) Prohibition (A) In general If a certification is issued under subpara- graph (B) and notice of the right to judicial review under subsection (c) is provided, no governmental or private entity that receives a request under subsection (a), or officer, employee, or agent thereof, shall disclose to any person that an authorized investigative agency described in subsection (a) has sought or obtained access to information under subsection (a). (B) Certification The requirements of subparagraph (A) shall apply if the head of an authorized in- vestigative agency described in subsection (a), or a designee, certifies that the absence of a prohibition of disclosure under this sub- section 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 rela- tions; or (iv) danger to the life or physical safety of any person. (2) Exception (A) In general A governmental or private entity that re- ceives a request under subsection (a), or offi- cer, employee, or agent thereof, may dis- close information otherwise subject to any applicable nondisclosure requirement to— (i) those persons to whom disclosure is necessary in order to comply with the re- quest; (ii) an attorney in order to obtain legal advice or assistance regarding the request; or (iii) other persons as permitted by the head of the authorized investigative agen- cy described in subsection (a) or a des- ignee. (B) Application A person to whom disclosure is made under subparagraph (A) shall be subject to the non- disclosure requirements applicable to a per- son to whom a request is issued under sub- section (a) in the same manner as the person to whom the request is issued. (C) Notice Any recipient that discloses to a person described in subparagraph (A) information otherwise subject to a nondisclosure require- ment shall inform the person of the applica- ble nondisclosure requirement. (D) Identification of disclosure recipients At the request of the head of an authorized investigative agency described in subsection (a), or a designee, any person making or in- tending to make a disclosure under clause (i) Page 747 TITLE 50—WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE § 3162a or (iii) of subparagraph (A) shall identify to the head of the authorized investigative agency or such designee the person to whom such disclosure will be made or to whom such disclosure was made prior to the re- quest. (c) Judicial review (1) In general A request under subsection (a) or a non- disclosure requirement imposed in connection with such request under subsection (b) shall be subject to judicial review under section 3511 of title 18. (2) Notice A request under subsection (a) shall include notice of the availability of judicial review de- scribed in paragraph (1). (d) Records or information; inspection or copy- ing (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law (other than section 6103 of title 26), an entity re- ceiving a request for records or information under subsection (a) shall, if the request satis- fies the requirements of this section, make available such records or information within 30 days for inspection or copying, as may be appro- priate, by the agency requesting such records or information. (2) Any entity (including any officer, em- ployee, or agent thereof) that discloses records or information for inspection or copying pursu- ant to this section in good faith reliance upon the certifications made by an agency pursuant to this section shall not be liable for any such disclosure to any person under this subchapter, the constitution of any State, or any law or reg- ulation of any State or any political subdivision of any State. (e) Reimbursement of costs Any agency requesting records or information under this section may, subject to the avail- ability of appropriations, reimburse a private entity for any cost reasonably incurred by such entity in responding to such request, including the cost of identifying, reproducing, or trans- porting records or other data. (f) Dissemination of records or information re- ceived An agency receiving records or information pursuant to a request under this section may disseminate the records or information obtained pursuant to such request outside the agency only— (1) to the agency employing the employee who is the subject of the records or informa- tion; (2) to the Department of Justice for law en- forcement or counterintelligence purposes; or (3) with respect to dissemination to an agen- cy of the United States, if such information is clearly relevant to the authorized responsibil- ities of such agency. (g) Construction of section Nothing in this section may be construed to affect the authority of an investigative agency to obtain information pursuant to the Right to Financial Privacy Act (12 U.S.C. 3401 et seq.) or the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.). (July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title VIII, § 802, as added Pub. L. 103–359, title VIII, § 802(a), Oct. 14, 1994, 108 Stat. 3436; amended Pub. L. 109–177, title I, § 116(f), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 216; Pub. L. 109–178, § 4(e), Mar. 9, 2006, 120 Stat. 281; Pub. L. 114–23, title V, §§ 502(e), 503(e), June 2, 2015, 129 Stat. 287, 290.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT The Right to Financial Privacy Act, referred to in subsec. (g), probably means the Right to Financial Pri- vacy Act of 1978, which is title XI of Pub. L. 95–630, Nov. 10, 1978, 92 Stat. 3697, and is classified generally to chapter 35 (§ 3401 et seq.) of Title 12, Banks and Bank- ing. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 3401 of Title 12 and Tables. The Fair Credit Reporting Act, referred to in subsec. (g), is title VI of Pub. L. 90–321, as added by Pub. L. 91–508, title VI, § 601, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1127, which is classified generally to subchapter III (§ 1681 et seq.) of chapter 41 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade. For com- plete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1970 Amendment note set out under section 1601 of Title 15 and Tables. CODIFICATION Section was formerly classified to section 436 of this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section. AMENDMENTS 2015—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 114–23, § 502(e), added subsec. (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which related to prohibition of certain disclosure. Subsecs. (c) to (g). Pub. L. 114–23, § 503(e), added sub- sec. (c) and redesignated former subsecs. (c) to (f) as (d) to (g), respectively. 2006—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109–177 amended subsec. (b) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no gov- ernmental or private entity, or officer, employee, or agent of such entity, may disclose to any person, other than those officers, employees, or agents of such entity necessary to satisfy a request made under this section, that such entity has received or satisfied a request made by an authorized investigative agency under this section.’’ Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 109–178 amended par. (4) gen- erally. Prior to amendment, par. (4) read as follows: ‘‘At the request of the authorized investigative agency, any person making or intending to make a disclosure under this section shall identify to the requesting offi- cial of the authorized investigative agency the person to whom such disclosure will be made or to whom such disclosure was made prior to the request, but in no cir- cumstance shall a person be required to inform such of- ficial that the person intends to consult an attorney to obtain legal advice or legal assistance.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective 180 days after Oct. 14, 1994, see sec- tion 802(c) of Pub. L. 103–359, set out as a note under section 3161 of this title. § 3162a. Security Executive Agent (a) In general The Director of National Intelligence, or such other officer of the United States as the Presi-