2001 Minnesota Statutes

CHAPTER 13B. Matching programs; computerized comparison of data

     13B.01 Definitions. 

    Subdivision 1.    General.  For purposes of this 
 chapter, the following terms have the meanings given them.  

    Subd. 2.    Benefit program.  "Benefit program" means a 
 program administered by a public entity or agent of a public 
 entity that provides cash or in-kind assistance in the form of 
 payments, grants, subsidies, loans, loan guarantees, or any 
 other form of financial assistance to individuals. 

    Subd. 3.    Front end verification.  "Front end 
 verification" means a computerized procedure operated by a 
 public entity that checks the accuracy and truthfulness of data 
 provided by an individual as part of an application with the 
 public entity. 

    Subd. 4.    Government data.  "Government data" has the 
 meaning given the term in section 13.02, subdivision 7. 

    Subd. 5.    Individual.  "Individual" has the meaning 
 given the term in section 13.02, subdivision 8. 

    Subd. 6.    Law enforcement agency.  "Law enforcement 
 agency" means an agency of the state, a political subdivision, 
 or the University of Minnesota with the power to conduct 
 criminal investigations or make arrests or an attorney 
 authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution 
 of criminal offenses. 

    Subd. 7.    Matching program.  "Matching program" means 
 a computerized comparison of government data to government or 
 nongovernment data for use by a public entity for purposes of 
 determining the eligibility of individuals for a license, 
 privilege, benefit program, or employment.  Matching program 
 does not include a comparison performed: 

    (1) by a public entity if all data used in the comparison 
 are government data of one responsible authority within the 
 public entity, other than personnel or payroll data; 

    (2) by a law enforcement agency after initiation of a law 
 enforcement investigation for gathering evidence for a law 
 enforcement proceeding against an identified individual; 

    (3) to produce aggregate statistical data without data that 
 identify individuals in the final product; or 

    (4) to support a research or statistical project, the 
 specific data of which may not be used to make decisions 
 concerning the rights, benefits, or privileges of specific 
 individuals. 

    Subd. 8.    Public entity.  "Public entity" means a 
 state agency or statewide system as those terms are defined in 
 section 13.02. 

    Subd. 9.    Responsible authority.  "Responsible 
 authority" has the meaning given in section 13.02, subdivision 
 16. 

    HIST: 1990 c 566 s 1 

     13B.02 Matching agreements. 

    Before participating in a matching program, the responsible 
 authority in each public entity that participates in the 
 matching program shall enter into a written agreement with the 
 other person specifying: 

    (1) the rationale, purpose, and legal authority for 
 conducting the program; 

    (2) a description of the data that will be matched, 
 including each data element that will be used, the approximate 
 number of records that will be matched, and the projected 
 starting and completion dates of the matching program; 

    (3) procedures for retention and destruction of data 
 created by the matching program consistent with section 138.17; 

    (4) procedures for ensuring the security of the data; 

    (5) prohibitions on duplication and redisclosure of data by 
 the person who receives the data, unless authorized by the 
 public entity that releases the data; 

    (6) procedures governing the use of the data provided by 
 the public entity for the matching program, including procedures 
 governing return to the public entity or destruction of the data 
 consistent with section 138.17; and 

    (7) information on assessments that have been made on the 
 accuracy of the data that will be used in the matching program. 

    HIST: 1990 c 566 s 2,9; 1992 c 569 s 36; 1994 c 618 art 1 s 
 47; 1995 c 259 art 1 s 62 

     13B.03 Front end verification and matching programs; 
  rights of subjects. 

    A public entity may not suspend, terminate, reduce, or make 
 a final denial of employment or a license or other privilege or 
 of assistance under a benefit program, or take other adverse 
 action against an individual as a result of data produced by a 
 matching program or front end verification, until the entity has 
 independently verified the data.  If independent verification 
 shows that the data are correct, the entity shall give the 
 individual written notice of its findings and an opportunity to 
 contest the findings.  The requirements of this section may be 
 satisfied by verification, notice, hearing, and appeal rights 
 governing the particular benefit program or employment or 
 licensing procedure from which data were obtained to be used in 
 the matching program. 

    HIST: 1990 c 566 s 3 

  13B.04 Repealed, 1995 c 259 art 1 s 62 

     13B.05 Remedies. 

    The remedies and penalties in sections 13.08 and 13.09 
 apply to this chapter. 

    HIST: 1995 c 259 art 1 s 28 

     13B.06 Child support or maintenance obligor data matches.

    Subdivision 1.    Definitions.  The definitions in this 
 subdivision apply to this section. 

    (a) "Account" means a demand deposit account, checking or 
 negotiable withdraw order account, savings account, time deposit 
 account, or money market mutual fund. 

    (b) "Account information" means the type of account, the 
 account number, whether the account is singly or jointly owned, 
 and in the case of jointly owned accounts the name and address 
 of the nonobligor account owner if available. 

    (c) "Financial institution" means any of the following that 
 do business within the state: 

    (1) federal or state commercial banks and federal or state 
 savings banks, including savings and loan associations and 
 cooperative banks; 

    (2) federal and state chartered credit unions; 

    (3) benefit associations; 

    (4) life insurance companies; 

    (5) safe deposit companies; and 

    (6) money market mutual funds. 

    (d) "Obligor" means an individual who is in arrears in 
 court-ordered child support or maintenance payments, or both, in 
 an amount equal to or greater than five times the obligor's 
 total monthly support and maintenance payments.  

    (e) "Public authority" means the public authority 
 responsible for child support enforcement. 

    Subd. 2.    Data match system established.  The 
 commissioner of human services shall establish a process for the 
 comparison of account information data held by financial 
 institutions with the public authority's database of child 
 support obligors.  The commissioner shall inform the financial 
 industry of the requirements of this section and the means by 
 which financial institutions can comply.  The commissioner may 
 contract for services to carry out this section. 

    Subd. 3.    Duty to provide data.  On written request by 
 a public authority, a financial institution shall provide to the 
 public authority on a quarterly basis the name, address, social 
 security number, tax identification number if known, and all 
 account information for each obligor who maintains an account at 
 the financial institution. 

    Subd. 4.    Method to provide data.  To comply with the 
 requirements of this section, a financial institution may either:

    (1) provide to the public authority a list containing only 
 the names and other necessary personal identifying information 
 of all account holders for the public authority to compare 
 against its list of child support obligors for the purpose of 
 identifying which obligors maintain an account at the financial 
 institution; the names of the obligors who maintain an account 
 at the institution shall then be transmitted to the financial 
 institution which shall provide the public authority with 
 account information on those obligors; or 

    (2) obtain a list of child support obligors from the public 
 authority and compare that data to the data maintained at the 
 financial institution to identify which of the identified 
 obligors maintains an account at the financial institution. 

    A financial institution shall elect either method in 
 writing upon written request of the public authority, and the 
 election remains in effect unless the public authority agrees in 
 writing to a change. 

    The commissioner shall keep track of the number of 
 financial institutions that elect to report under clauses (1) 
 and (2) respectively and shall report this information to the 
 legislature by December 1, 1999. 

    Subd. 5.    Means to provide data.  A financial 
 institution may provide the required data by submitting 
 electronic media in a compatible format, delivering, mailing, or 
 telefaxing a copy of the data, or by other means authorized by 
 the commissioner of human services that will result in timely 
 reporting. 

    Subd. 6.    Access to data.  (a) With regard to account 
 information on all account holders provided by a financial 
 institution under subdivision 4, clause (1), the commissioner of 
 human services shall retain the reported information only until 
 the account information is compared against the public 
 authority's obligor database.  Notwithstanding section 138.17, 
 all account information that does not pertain to an obligor 
 listed in the public authority's database must be immediately 
 discarded, and no retention or publication may be made of that 
 data by the public authority.  All account information that does 
 pertain to an obligor listed in the public authority's database 
 must be incorporated into the public authority's database.  
 Access to that data is governed by chapter 13.  Notwithstanding 
 section 16D.06, data collected pursuant to this chapter is 
 available for the collection of child support debt only and is 
 not available for other debt collection activities undertaken by 
 the state under chapter 16D. 

    (b) With regard to data on obligors provided by the public 
 authority to a financial institution under subdivision 4, clause 
 (2), the financial institution shall retain the reported 
 information only until the financial institution's database is 
 compared against the public authority's database.  Data that do 
 not pertain to an account holder at the financial institution 
 must be immediately discarded, and no retention or publication 
 may be made of that data by the financial institution. 

    Subd. 7.    Fees.  A financial institution may charge 
 and collect a fee from the public authority for providing 
 account information to the public authority.  The commissioner 
 may pay a financial institution up to $150 each quarter if the 
 commissioner and the financial institution have entered into a 
 signed agreement that complies with federal law.  The 
 commissioner shall develop procedures for the financial 
 institutions to charge and collect the fee.  Payment of the fee 
 is limited by the amount of the appropriation for this purpose.  
 If the appropriation is insufficient, or if fund availability in 
 the fourth quarter would allow payments for actual costs in 
 excess of $150, the commissioner shall prorate the available 
 funds among the financial institutions that have submitted a 
 claim for the fee.  No financial institution shall charge or 
 collect a fee that exceeds its actual costs of complying with 
 this section.  The commissioner, together with an advisory group 
 consisting of representatives of the financial institutions in 
 the state, shall evaluate whether the fee paid to financial 
 institutions compensates them for their actual costs, including 
 start-up costs, of complying with this section and shall submit 
 a report to the legislature by July 1, 2002, with a 
 recommendation for retaining or modifying the fee. 

    Subd. 8.    Failure to respond to request for information. 
  The public authority shall send by certified mail a written 
 notice of noncompliance to a financial institution that fails to 
 respond to a first written request for information under this 
 section.  The notice of noncompliance must explain the 
 requirements of this section and advise the financial 
 institution of the penalty for noncompliance.  A financial 
 institution that receives a second notice of noncompliance is 
 subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 for its failure to comply.  
 A financial institution that continues to fail to comply with 
 this section is subject to a civil penalty of $5,000 for the 
 third and each subsequent failure to comply.  These penalties 
 may be imposed and collected by the public authority. 

    A financial institution that has been served with a notice 
 of noncompliance and incurs a second or subsequent notice of 
 noncompliance has the right to a contested case hearing under 
 chapter 14.  A financial institution has 20 days from the date 
 of the service of the notice of noncompliance to file a request 
 for a contested case hearing with the commissioner.  The order 
 of the administrative law judge constitutes the final decision 
 in the case. 

    Subd. 9.    Immunity.  A financial institution that 
 provides or reasonably attempts to provide information to the 
 public authority in compliance with this section is not liable 
 to any person for disclosing the information or for taking any 
 other action in good faith as authorized by this section or 
 chapter 552. 

    Subd. 10.    Civil action for unauthorized disclosure by 
 financial institution.  (a) An account holder may bring a 
 civil action in district court against a financial institution 
 for unauthorized disclosure of data received from the public 
 authority under subdivision 4, clause (2).  A financial 
 institution found to have violated this subdivision shall be 
 liable as provided in paragraph (b) or (c). 

    (b) Any financial institution that willfully and 
 maliciously discloses data received from the public authority 
 under subdivision 4 is liable to that account holder in an 
 amount equal to the sum of: 

    (1) any actual damages sustained by the account holder as a 
 result of the disclosure; and 

    (2) in the case of any successful action to enforce any 
 liability under this section, the costs of the action taken plus 
 reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the court. 

    (c) Any financial institution that negligently discloses 
 data received from the public authority under subdivision 4 is 
 liable to that account holder in an amount equal to any actual 
 damages sustained by the account holder as a result of the 
 disclosure. 

    (d) A financial institution may not be held liable in any 
 action brought under this subdivision if the financial 
 institution shows, by a preponderance of evidence, that the 
 disclosure was not intentional and resulted from a bona fide 
 error notwithstanding the maintenance of procedures reasonably 
 adopted to avoid any error. 

    HIST: 1997 c 203 art 6 s 3; 1997 c 245 art 3 s 1-4; 1999 c 196 
 art 2 s 1; 2000 c 458 s 1; 1Sp2001 c 9 art 12 s 1