The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a (2000), was born out of the need to protect individuals from illegal surveillance and investigation by federal agencies, a need demonstrated by the Watergate Scandal.  The Watergate Scandal exposed the Nixon Administration use of federal agencies to illegally investigate individuals for political purposes.  Not only were records being accessed, but agencies were using illegal surveillance as well.

Computers and the ever-expanding use of the social security number as a universal individual identifier makes it easier for the government not only to collect, organize and access an individual’s personal data, but to abuse it as well.  The Privacy Act seeks to balance protection of individual rights to privacy against the need for information.  A corner stone of the act is the “no disclosure without consent rule.” That is, "No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains [subject to 12 exceptions]." 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b).

Other objectives of the Privacy Act include:

§         The individual’s right to access any records that an agency maintains on that individual

§         The individual’s right to seek to have amended agency records containing personal information that is not accurate, relevant, timely or complete

§         “Fair Information Practices” which addresses how agencies collect, maintain, use and disseminate personal information about an individual.

READ MORE
To learn more about the Privacy Act use this link to the Department of Justice website - www.usdoj.gov/04foia/04_7_1.html