12 2 STA T .3 2 74PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 31 5— AU G .14 , 200 8dev e lop ed byth e S e cr et a ryp u r s ua n ttoth i s para g raph by an eligible institution , eligible lender, guaranty agency, State grant agency, private co m puter so f t w are provider, a consortium thereof, or such other entities as the Secretary may designate .‘ ‘ (C) S TA T ED ATA. —T he Secretary shall include on the electronic version of the forms such items as may be nec - essary to determine eligibility for State financial assistance, as provided under paragraph ( 5 ),e x cept the Secretary shall not re q uire an applicant to enter data pursuant to this subparagraph that are required by any State other than the applicant ’ s State of residence. ‘‘( D ) AV A IL A B ILIT Y A N D PROC E S SIN G .—The data col- lected by means of the simplified electronic version of the forms shall be available to institutions of higher education, guaranty agencies, and States in accordance with para- graph ( 10 ). ‘‘( E ) P RIVACY.—The Secretary shall ensure that data collection under this paragraph complies with section 55 2 a of title 5, U nited States Code, and that any entity using the electronic version of the forms developed by the Sec- retary pursuant to this paragraph shall maintain reason- able and appropriate administrative, technical, and phys- ical safeguards to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the information, and to protect against security threats, or unauthori z ed uses or disclosures of the information pro- vided on the electronic version of the forms. Data collected by such electronic version of the forms shall be used only for the application, award, and administration of aid awarded under this title, State aid, or aid awarded by eligible institutions or such entities as the Secretary may designate. N o data collected by such electronic version of the forms shall be used for ma k ing final aid awards under this title until such data have been processed by the Sec- retary or a contractor or designee of the Secretary, except as may be permitted under this title. ‘‘( F ) SIGNAT U RE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the Secretary may continue to permit an elec- tronic version of the form under this paragraph to be submitted without a signature, if a signature is subse- quently submitted by the applicant or if the applicant uses a personal identification number provided by the Sec- retary under subparagraph ( G ). ‘‘(G) PERSONAL IDENTI F ICATION NU M BERS AUT H OR- I Z ED.—The Secretary may continue to assign to an applicant a personal identification number— ‘‘(i) to enable the applicant to use such number as a signature for purposes of completing an electronic version of a form developed under this paragraph
and ‘‘(ii) for any purpose determined by the Secretary to enable the Secretary to carry out this title. ‘‘( H ) PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER IMPROVE- MENT.—The Secretary shall continue to work with the Commissioner of Social Security to minimize the time required for an applicant to obtain a personal identification number when applying for aid under this title through
�
