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Question One (00:09)

Does the duty not to use or disclose information apply only to information that is confidential by law?

No, and the duty not to use or disclose information has two parts.

Part one is limited to information that is confidential by law. Current and former employees can not use or disclose, without appropriate authorization, information that is confidential by law.

Examples of information that is confidential by law are:

Information that's protected by FERPA (student records) would be one obvious example. Basically if there is a law that says the University has a duty to keep information confidential, then all university employees have an ethical as well as a legal duty to keep that information confidential.

Part two is a little more involved. Even if the information is not confidential by law, if it is information that the employee received through their official duties, and if that information could in any way result in a benefit for the employee or the employee’s immediate family members, then the employee cannot use or disclose that information if the information has not been disseminated to the public.

This requirement is not limited to financial benefit. It includes anything that is to a person’s advantage or self-interests, or from which a person profits, regardless of the financial gains. So it includes financial benefits, but it also includes service, privilege, exemption, patronage, advantage, advancement, or really anything of value.

Question Two (01:50)

How far does the “immediate family member” group extend?

“Immediate family member” would include a spouse or domestic partner, child or children  (including stepchildren and adopted children), parent, sibling, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and my father-in-law, mother-in-law, or sibling-in-law. So if I, as a ��ū�컨�� employee, have any information that could benefit somebody in that group and in that scope, then I cannot share it. Or if one of my immediate family members is employed at ��ū�컨�� and that person has information that might benefit me, then they cannot share that information with me.

Question Three (02:28)

If I know of someone that is outside the University who has learned the protected information, does that count as being publicly disseminated?

No, the state regulations have a specific list of things that have to be met in order for information to be regarded as being publicly disseminated. If it has been distributed through a newspaper or other printed publication; through broadcast media; a press release; a newsletter; a legal notice; a nonconfidential court filing; a published report; a ��ū�컨�� website; posting on the Alaska Online Public Notice System; a public speech; or public testimony before the legislature or an agency.

Information that has not gone public through one of those channels, even though it may have to be produced in response to a public records request,or it may have otherwise been accessed by a member of the general public, it has not been "disseminated" to the public. So we should not disclose or use it if it might benefit ourselves or our immediate family members.

Question Four (03:36)

Who do we report it to if we suspect that someone has shared protected information, and what are the consequences?

It should be reported to the ethics supervisor for the particular unit of the university for which you are working. And those are listed on the ethics website for the general counsel's office. It may also have to be reported some place else, if it entails a crime or Title IX violation or something like that, but the place to start would be the ethics supervisors. Disciplinary action for an employee sharing protected information would follow the same progressive discipline approach that any other violation of policy would for an employee.

Question Five (04:19)

After we stop working for the University, are we released from these obligations?

No, these requirements regarding the sharing of confidential information apply to current and former employees. Most provisions of the Executive Branch Ethics Act stop being applicable to us when we stop working for the university, but these particular provisions apply to former employees. So even after leaving the university's service you still have these obligations to keep that information confidential.

If you have ideas for future compliance chats, please email them to ua-compliance@alaska.edu.