All information published by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services pursuant to this Part shall be classified so as to prevent the identification of information received from individual farm operators. All information generated by any federal agency received pursuant to this Chapter that is confidential under federal law shall be held confidential by the Department and its employees, unless confidentiality is waived by the federal agency. All information collected by the Department from farm owners or animal owners, including, but not limited to, certificates of veterinary inspection, animal medical records, laboratory reports received or generated from samples submitted for analysis, or other records that may be used to identify a person or private business entity subject to regulation by the Department shall not be disclosed without the permission of the owner unless the State Veterinarian determines that disclosure is necessary to prevent the spread of an animal disease or to protect the public health, or the disclosure is necessary in the implementation of these animal health programs. (1979, c. 228, s. 3; 1993, c. 5, s. 1; 1997-261, s. 26; 2002-179, s. 8; 2013-265, s. 7; 2015-263, s. 31; 2018-113, s. 2.)