Dear Professor,
Our campus recently started receiving Authorization for Release of Information forms from the federal government. In lieu of an actual signature, the following statement appears on this form:
“This form was digitally signed by: [student’s name] in accordance with the Electronic Signature Act 15 U.S.C. 7001, Public Law 105-277 the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, and other regulations governing electronic signatures and access controlled U.S. Government systems to include CFR-2004-title34-vol1.”
Are we authorized to release FERPA-protected information as requested?
Thanks,
Jen E. Roll
_______________________________________________________________________
Dear Jen,
While you would not generally want to accept an electronic signature that was not established by your institution, in the case of the Federal government agencies, you can do so. This is because they will have authenticated the identity of the signer. This lack of authentication is often the problem with other electronic signatures not created by your institution. You generally have no basis for knowing that they have gone through an authentication process that would meet the requirements of §99.30 (d)(1) and §99.31(c) prior to the issuing of the electronic signature.
Thanks,
The FERPA Professor
Please visit our Ask the FERPA Professor archives for more insight from the professor. And send your questions for the FERPA Professor to connect@aacrao.org.
In addition, check out the FERPA offerings at this year's AACRAO Annual Meeting, March 20-23 in Phoenix, Arizona. AACRAO Senior Fellow LeRoy Rooker will be presenting:
- Registrar 101 & FERPA (Part I)
- FERPA: the Overview
- FERPA: the Update
- Applying FERPA in Real-life Situationsï
- FERPA and Admissions Records Requests: The View from the Registrar's Desk
To register and for more information, visit the AACRAO Annual Meeting page.