The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is legislation enacted by the United States Congress in October 1998 that made major changes to the US Copyright Act. These changes were necessary in part to bring US Copyright law into compliance with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances Phonograms Treaty. The DMCA also strengthened the legal protection of intellectual property rights in the wake of emerging new information communication technologies.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, also known as the Buckley Amendment, is a federal law that protects the privacy of student “education records.” “Education records” are defined, with a few exceptions, as records containing information directly related to a student that are maintained by a school or its agent (including electronic records). FERPA prohibits schools from disclosing education records, or personally identifiable information in those records, other than certain basic directory information, without the student’s prior written consent, or the parent’s consent if the student is under the age of 18. The student may even request that directory information be withheld. Some exceptions do apply, such as cooperation in criminal investigations.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act was signed into law in 1999 and is applicable to financial institutions, including colleges and universities. Under GLBA, institutions are obliged to protect customer financial information. The GLBA requires companies and organizations to ensure the security of personally identifying information of financial institution customers, such as names, addresses, account and credit information, and Social Security numbers.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, enacted by Congress in 1996, was intended to create a national standard for the protection of personally identifiable information relating to health care. Education institutions may be obligated to comply with HIPAA in connection with a broad range of activities.