Dear Professor,
Does a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request “trump” FERPA? In other words, if a school receives a FOIA request for “student’s email address”, does FERPA apply? My read of the FERPA rules is that we must comply with a FOIA request.
Sincerely,
Acro Anne
Dear AACRAOan,
FERPA does apply to student email addresses because they meet the definition of an "education record." While FERPA generally requires that the student provide a signed consent prior to disclosing information from the student's education record, one of the exceptions to signed consent provides for the disclosure of institutionally designated "directory information" so long as certain conditions are met. Primarily, the institution would have to have designated "email address" as a directory item and provided the student the opportunity to opt out of any disclosure under this exception.
Because, as you indicated, the College has not designated the student email address as a directory item, not withstanding any State FOIA request, the College could not disclose the addresses without the student's consent or meeting one of the other exceptions to signed consent found at §99.31 of the FERPA regulations. Section §99.37 contains the conditions an institution must meet prior to disclosing any directory information items. You can find the conditions on page 166 of the 2012 AACRAO FERPA Guide.
I trust this information is helpful in responding to your request.
Sincerely,
The FERPA Professor
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