[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 45, Volume 1]
[Revised as of October 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 45CFR73.735-307]

[Page 184-185]
 
                        TITLE 45--PUBLIC WELFARE
 
                           AND HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 73_STANDARDS OF CONDUCT--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart C_Conduct on the Job
 
Sec. 73.735-307  Use of official information.

    (a) The public interest requires that certain information in the 
possession of the Government be kept confidential, and released only 
with general or specific authority under Department or operating 
component regulations. Such information may involve the national 
security or be private, personal, or business information which has been 
furnished to the Government in confidence. In addition, information in 
the possession of the Government and not generally available may not be 
used for private gain. The following paragraphs set forth the rules to 
be followed by Department employees in handling information in official 
files or documents:
    (1) Classified information. Employees who have access to information 
which is classified for security reasons in accordance with Executive 
Order 12065 are responsible for its custody and safekeeping, and for 
assuring that it is not disclosed to unauthorized persons. See the 
Department's Security Manual, Part 3 for details.
    (2) Security and investigative information. Security and 
investigative data

[[Page 185]]

received from Government agencies or other sources for official use only 
within the Department or developed under a pledge of confidence is not 
to be divulged to unauthorized persons or agencies.
    (3) Information obtained in confidence. Certain Department units 
(e.g., Food and Drug Administration, and the Social Security 
Administration) obtain in the course of their program activities certain 
information from businesses or individuals which they are forbidden by 
law from disclosing. These statutory prohibitions are found in 21 U.S.C. 
331j, and 18 U.S.C. 1905. Each employee is responsible for observing 
these laws.
    (4) Use of information for private gain. Government employees are 
sometimes able to obtain information about some action the Government is 
about to take or some other matter which is not generally known. 
Information of this kind shall not be used by the employee to further 
his or her or someone else's private financial or other interests. Such 
a use of official information is clearly a violation of a public trust. 
Employees shall not, directly or indirectly, make use of, or permit 
others to make use of, for the purpose of furthering any private 
interest, official information not made available to the general public.
    (b) The Privacy Act provides criminal penalties for an employee who 
willfully discloses individually identifiable information from records, 
disclosure of which is prohibited by that Act. 5 U.S.C. 552a(i).