Privacy Act
Your Rights under the Privacy Act
What is Privacy?
Privacy is the right to be left alone and to control the conditions under which information pertaining to you is collected, used and disseminated.
What is the Privacy Act?
The Privacy Act, passed by Congress in 1974, establishes certain controls over what personal information is collected by the federal government and how it is used. This law guarantees three primary rights:
- The right to see records about oneself, subject to the Privacy Act's exemptions.
- The right to amend a nonexempt record if it is inaccurate, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete.
- The right to sue the government for violations of the statute, such as permitting unauthorized individuals to read your records.
What Information Can I Request Under the Privacy Act?
The Privacy Act applies only to records about individuals maintained by agencies in the executive branch of the federal government. It applies to these records only if they are in a "system of records," which means they are retrieved by an individual's name, Social Security number, or some other personal identifier. In other words, the Privacy Act does not apply to information about individuals in records that are filed under other subjects, such as organizations or events, unless the agency also indexes and retrieves them by individual names or other personal identifiers.
There are 10 exemptions to the Privacy Act under which an agency can withhold certain kinds of information from you. Examples of exempt records are those containing classified information on national security and those concerning criminal investigations. Another exemption often used by agencies is that which protects information that would identify a confidential source. For example, if an investigator questions a person about your qualifications for federal employment and that person agrees to answer only if his identity is protected, then his name or any information that would identify him can be withheld. Records can also be used anonymously for statistical purposes. All 10 exemptions are specified in the Privacy Act. If you are interested in more details, you should read the Privacy Act in its entirety.