(1) The secretary shall develop and promulgate administrative regulations that protect the confidential nature of all records and reports of the cabinet that directly or indirectly identify a client or patient or former client or patient of the cabinet and that insure that these records are not disclosed to or by any person except as, and insofar as:
(a) The person identified or the guardian, if any, shall give consent; or (b) Disclosure may be permitted under state or federal law.
(2) The cabinet shall share pertinent information from within the agency's records on clients, current and former clients, recipients, and patients as may be permitted by federal and state confidentiality statutes and regulations governing release of data with other public, quasi-public, and private agencies involved in providing services to current or former clients or patients subject to confidentiality agreements as permitted by federal and state law if those agencies demonstrate a direct, tangible, and legitimate interest in the records. In all instances, the individual's right to privacy is to be respected.