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Title 34, NavyRelease 119-110

§10231 Confidentiality of Information

Title 34 › Subtitle I — Comprehensive Acts › CHAPTER 101 — JUSTICE SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT › SUBCHAPTER VII — ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › § 10231

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Keep research and statistical information private and use it only for the reason it was collected. Federal employees and anyone who gets help under this law must not share data that could identify a private person with other government parts or use it for a different purpose. Such information is protected from legal demands and cannot be used as evidence in court, Congress, or other official proceedings unless the person or group who gave the information agrees. Make criminal record data include case outcomes as well as arrests whenever possible, and keep those records up to date and secure. The Office of Justice Programs must protect privacy and only allow the information to be used for law enforcement, criminal-justice, or other lawful purposes. People who think an automated criminal record about them is wrong can verify their identity, see the record, and get a copy to challenge or correct it. Criminal intelligence systems must follow OJP rules so they do not violate privacy or constitutional rights. Anyone who breaks these rules can be fined up to $10,000, plus any other penalties.

Full Legal Text

Title 34, §10231

Navy, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Research or statistical information; immunity from process; prohibition against admission as evidence or use in any proceedings
No officer or employee of the Federal Government, and no recipient of assistance under the provisions of this chapter shall use or reveal any research or statistical information furnished under any law to any component of the Office of Justice Programs, or furnished otherwise under this chapter, by any entity or person, including any information identifiable to any specific private person, for any purpose other than the purpose for which it was obtained in accordance with this chapter. Such information and copies thereof shall be immune from legal process, and shall not, without the consent of the entity or person furnishing such information or to whom such information pertains, be admitted as evidence or used for any purpose in any action, suit, or other judicial, legislative, or administrative proceedings.
(b)Criminal history information; disposition and arrest data; procedures for collection, storage, dissemination, and current status; security and privacy; availability for law enforcement, criminal justice, and other lawful purposes; automated systems: review, challenge, and correction of information
All criminal history information collected, stored, or disseminated through support under this chapter shall contain, to the maximum extent feasible, disposition as well as arrest data where arrest data is included therein. The collection, storage, and dissemination of such information shall take place under procedures reasonably designed to insure that all such information is kept current therein; the Office of Justice Programs shall assure that the security and privacy of all information is adequately provided for and that information shall only be used for law enforcement and criminal justice and other lawful purposes. In addition, an individual who believes that criminal history information concerning him contained in an automated system is inaccurate, incomplete, or maintained in violation of this chapter, shall, upon satisfactory verification of his identity, be entitled to review such information and to obtain a copy of it for the purpose of challenge or correction.
(c)Criminal intelligence systems and information; prohibition against violation of privacy and constitutional rights of individuals
All criminal intelligence systems operating through support under this chapter shall collect, maintain, and disseminate criminal intelligence information in conformance with policy standards which are prescribed by the Office of Justice Programs and which are written to assure that the funding and operation of these systems furthers the purpose of this chapter and to assure that such systems are not utilized in violation of the privacy and constitutional rights of individuals.
(d)Violations; fine as additional penalty
Any person violating the provisions of this section, or of any rule, regulation, or order issued thereunder, shall be fined not to exceed $10,000, in addition to any other penalty imposed by law.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 3789g of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 812 of Pub. L. 90–351 was classified to section 3789a of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to repeal by section 609B(e) of Pub. L. 98–473.

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 119–60 substituted “furnished under any law to any component of the Office of Justice Programs, or furnished otherwise under this chapter, by any entity or person, including any information identifiable to any specific private person,” for “furnished under this chapter by any person and identifiable to any specific private person” in first sentence, and “entity or person furnishing such information or to whom such information pertains” for “person furnishing such information” in second sentence. 2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–162 substituted “No” for “Except as provided by Federal law other than this chapter, no”. 1984—Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 98–473, 609B(k), substituted “Office of Justice Programs” for “Office of Justice Assistance, Research, and Statistics”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2025 Amendment Pub. L. 119–60, div. H, title LXXXII, § 8205(b)(2), Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1849, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by paragraph (1) [amending this section] shall— “(A) shall take effect for all purposes as if enacted on December 27, 1979; and “(B) apply to any matter pending, before the Department of Justice or otherwise, as of the date of enactment of this Act [Dec. 18, 2025].”

Effective Date

of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by section 609B(k) of Pub. L. 98–473 effective Oct. 12, 1984, see section 609AA(a) of Pub. L. 98–473, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 10101 of this title.

Construction

Terms “this chapter” and “this section”, as such terms appear in this section, deemed to be references to chapter 501 and section 50105 of this title, respectively, and reference to the Office of Justice Programs in this section deemed to be a reference to the Attorney General, see section 50105 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

34 U.S.C. § 10231

Title 34, Navy

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110