2006 Minnesota Statutes

268.19 DATA PRIVACY.
    Subdivision 1. Use of data. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, data gathered
from any person pursuant to the administration of the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Law
are private data on individuals or nonpublic data not on individuals as defined in section 13.02,
subdivisions 9 and 12 , and may not be disclosed except pursuant to a district court order or section
13.05. A subpoena shall not be considered a district court order. These data may be disseminated
to and used by the following agencies without the consent of the subject of the data:
(1) state and federal agencies specifically authorized access to the data by state or federal law;
(2) any agency of any other state or any federal agency charged with the administration of an
unemployment insurance program;
(3) any agency responsible for the maintenance of a system of public employment offices for
the purpose of assisting individuals in obtaining employment;
(4) human rights agencies within Minnesota that have enforcement powers;
(5) the Department of Revenue only to the extent necessary for its duties under Minnesota
laws;
(6) public and private agencies responsible for administering publicly financed assistance
programs for the purpose of monitoring the eligibility of the program's recipients;
(7) the Department of Labor and Industry and the Division of Insurance Fraud Prevention in
the Department of Commerce on an interchangeable basis with the department for uses consistent
with the administration of their duties under Minnesota law;
(8) local and state welfare agencies for monitoring the eligibility of the data subject for
assistance programs, or for any employment or training program administered by those agencies,
whether alone, in combination with another welfare agency, or in conjunction with the department
or to monitor and evaluate the statewide Minnesota family investment program by providing
data on recipients and former recipients of food stamps or food support, cash assistance under
chapter 256, 256D, 256J, or 256K, child care assistance under chapter 119B, or medical programs
under chapter 256B, 256D, or 256L;
(9) local and state welfare agencies for the purpose of identifying employment, wages, and
other information to assist in the collection of an overpayment debt in an assistance program;
(10) local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies for the sole purpose of ascertaining
the last known address and employment location of a person who is the subject of a criminal
investigation;
(11) the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service shall have access to data on specific
individuals and specific employers provided the specific individual or specific employer is the
subject of an investigation by that agency; and
(12) the Department of Health solely for the purposes of epidemiologic investigations.
(b) Data on individuals and employers that are collected, maintained, or used by the
department in an investigation pursuant to section 268.182 are confidential as to data on
individuals and protected nonpublic data not on individuals as defined in section 13.02,
subdivisions 3 and 13 , and must not be disclosed except pursuant to statute or district court order or
to a party named in a criminal proceeding, administrative or judicial, for preparation of a defense.
(c) Data gathered by the department pursuant to the administration of the Minnesota
unemployment insurance program must not be made the subject or the basis for any suit in any
civil proceedings, administrative or judicial, unless the action is initiated by the department.
    Subd. 1a. Wage detail data. (a) Wage and employment data gathered pursuant to section
268.044 may be disseminated to and used, without the consent of the subject of the data, by
an agency of another state that is designated as the performance accountability and consumer
information agency for that state pursuant to Code of Federal Regulations, volume 20, part
663.510(c), in order to carry out the requirements of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998,
United States Code, title 29, sections 2842 and 2871.
(b) The commissioner may enter into a data exchange agreement with an employment
and training service provider under section 116L.17, or the Workforce Investment Act of 1998,
United States Code, title 29, section 2864, under which the commissioner, with the consent of the
subject of the data, may furnish data on the quarterly wages paid and number of hours worked on
those individuals who have received employment and training services from the provider. With
the initial consent of the subject of the data, this data may be shared for up to three years after
termination of the employment and training services provided to the individual without execution
of an additional consent. This data shall be furnished solely for the purpose of evaluating the
employment and training services provided. The data subject's ability to receive service is not
affected by a refusal to give consent under this paragraph. The consent form must state this fact.
    Subd. 2. Employer information; absolute privilege. (a) Regardless of any provision of law
to the contrary, an employer may provide the commissioner with information on an applicant so
that the commissioner can determine an applicant's entitlement to unemployment benefits under
the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Law.
(b) The commissioner may disseminate an employer's name and address and the name and
address of any employer's unemployment insurance processing agent in order to administer the
Minnesota unemployment insurance program.
(c) Information obtained pursuant to the Minnesota Unemployment Insurance Law, in order
to determine an applicant's entitlement to unemployment benefits, shall be absolutely privileged
and shall not be made the subject matter or the basis for any civil proceeding, administrative,
or judicial.
History: Ex1936 c 2 s 10; 1937 c 306 s 7; 1939 c 441 s 42; 1939 c 443 s 8,10; 1941 c 554 s
9; 1943 c 650 s 7; 1945 c 376 s 9; 1947 c 600 s 3-6; 1949 c 605 s 15; 1949 c 739 s 8; 1951 c 442
s 6-10; 1951 c 713 s 29; 1953 c 97 s 15; 1953 c 603 s 1; 1953 c 612 s 1; 1955 c 847 s 22; 1957 c
883 s 7; 1965 c 45 s 42-44; 1965 c 741 s 18; 1967 c 770 s 1; 1969 c 9 s 63; 1969 c 310 s 2; 1969
c 567 s 1,3; 1969 c 854 s 11,12; 1969 c 1129 art 8 s 7; 1971 c 942 s 12; 1973 c 254 s 1,3; 1973 c
492 s 14; 1974 c 241 s 1; 1975 c 315 s 19; 1975 c 336 s 20,21; 1977 c 172 s 2; 1977 c 237 s 1;
1977 c 297 s 20; 1977 c 305 s 31; 1977 c 430 s 25 subd 1; 1978 c 674 s 60; 1979 c 181 s 15; 1980
c 615 s 37; 1981 c 311 s 39; 1982 c 424 s 130; 1982 c 545 s 23,24; 1Sp1982 c 1 s 31,32; 1983 c
216 art 1 s 87; 1983 c 247 s 114; 1983 c 260 s 58; 1983 c 312 art 8 s 2; 1983 c 372 s 37,38; 1984
c 544 s 89; 1985 c 248 s 70; 1Sp1985 c 14 art 9 s 75; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 165 s 1; 1987 c 312 art
1 s 26 subd 2; 1987 c 362 s 23; 1987 c 385 s 25; 1989 c 65 s 11; 1989 c 209 art 2 s 1; 1990 c 516
s 6,7; 1991 c 202 s 16; 1993 c 67 s 10; 1994 c 483 s 1; 1994 c 488 s 8; 1995 c 54 s 12; 1996 c 417
s 21,23,31; 1996 c 440 art 1 s 47; 1997 c 66 s 55-58,79; 1998 c 265 s 30; 1998 c 273 s 13; 1998 c
371 s 11; 1999 c 107 s 45,66; 2000 c 343 s 4; 2000 c 468 s 25; 2001 c 175 s 52; 1Sp2003 c 3 art 2
s 20; 1Sp2003 c 4 s 1; 1Sp2003 c 8 art 2 s 16; 1Sp2003 c 14 art 1 s 106; 2004 c 183 s 85; 2004 c
206 s 52; 2004 c 269 art 1 s 10; 2004 c 290 s 31,32; 2005 c 112 art 2 s 41; 1Sp2005 c 1 art 4 s 74