Education records may be released without consent if:

The correct answer involves the principle of protecting student privacy while still allowing for the appropriate management of education records. When all personally identifiable information has been removed, the records become anonymized, ensuring that no individual's identity can be discerned from the data. This aligns with guidelines set forth by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which emphasizes the protection of student information from unauthorized disclosure.

Removing personally identifiable information effectively mitigates the risk of privacy violations, enabling the institution to share data that may be beneficial for research or assessment purposes without compromising individual confidentiality. By contrast, the other options involve situations where privacy protections are still in place, such as needing the student's written request or specific conditions required for law enforcement access, which all require careful handling of the information and often do not permit release without appropriate consent or legal considerations.