# § 1681r. Unauthorized disclosures by officers or employees
Any officer or employee of a consumer reporting agency who knowingly and willfully provides information concerning an individual from the agency’s files to a person not authorized to receive that information shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both.
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**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 90–321, title VI, § 620, as added Pub. L. 91–508, title VI, § 601, Oct. 26, 1970, 84 Stat. 1134; amended Pub. L. 104–208, div. A, title II, § 2415(b), Sept. 30, 1996, 110 Stat. 3009–450.)
## Editorial Notes
### Amendments
1996— substituted “fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 2 years, or both” for “fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned not more than one year, or both”.
## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
### Effective Date of 1996 Amendment
Amendment by effective 365 days after , with special rule for early compliance, see , set out as a note under .
### Effective Date
Section effective upon the expiration of one hundred and eighty days following , see , as added by , set out as a note under .