en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seung-Hui_Cho
1 correction found
[Federal law prohibited](/wiki/HIPAA "HIPAA") Westfield officials from disclosing any record of disability or treatment without Cho's permission
This overstates and misidentifies the privacy law. School-held records like these were generally governed by FERPA, not HIPAA, and FERPA allows schools to send education records to another school where a student seeks or intends to enroll without the student's consent.
Full reasoning
This sentence is inaccurate in two important ways.
-
HIPAA generally did not govern Westfield High School's student records. The linked law is HIPAA, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that, in most cases, the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not apply to elementary or secondary schools because student health information in school records is usually an "education record" under FERPA instead.
-
FERPA did not categorically prohibit disclosure without Cho's permission. The U.S. Department of Education states that a school may disclose education records without consent to another school in which the student seeks or intends to enroll. That means federal law did not impose a blanket bar on Westfield sending relevant records to Virginia Tech.
So the article's claim that federal law prohibited any disclosure of disability or treatment records without Cho's permission is too broad and points readers to the wrong federal privacy regime.
2 sources
- Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule apply to an elementary or secondary school? | HHS.gov
In most cases, the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not apply to an elementary or secondary school because the school either: (1) is not a HIPAA covered entity or (2) ... maintains health information only on students in records that are by definition “education records” under FERPA and, therefore, is not subject to the HIPAA Privacy Rule.
- Does FERPA permit schools to disclose any and all education records on a student to another school where the student seeks or intends to enroll? | Protecting Student Privacy
Yes. FERPA states a school may disclose education records, without parental consent (§ 99.31(a)(2)), to another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll, subject to conditions set forth in § 99.34.