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Privacy Act of 1974

 
CITATION 5 U.S.C. § 552a
ENACTED 1974
SUMMARY

The Privacy Act was created in response to concerns about the creation and use of computerized databases. The Act creates a number of procedural and substantive rights:

  1. Government agencies must show an individual any records kept on him or her;
  2. Agencies must follow certain principles, called the “fair information practices,” when gathering and handling personal data;
  3. Restrictions have been placed on how agencies can share an individual’s data with other people and agencies; and
  4. Individuals have the right to sue the government for violating these principles.

There are a number of significant exemptions, e.g., governmental agencies involved in law enforcement can excuse themselves from the Act’s rules.
DATA COVERED The law applies to “records” which means “any item, collection, or grouping of information about an individual that is maintained by an agency, including, but not limited to, his education, financial transactions, medical history, and criminal or employment history and that contains his name, or the identifying number, symbol, or other identifying particular assigned to the individual, such as a finger or voice print or a photograph.”
INDUSTRY U.S. Government and governmental agencies.
PENALTIES

Criminal penalties:

(1) Any officer or employee of an agency, who by virtue of his employment or official position, has possession of, or access to, agency records which contain individually identifiable information the disclosure of which is prohibited by this section or by rules or regulations established thereunder, and who knowing that disclosure of the specific material is so prohibited, willfully discloses the material in any manner to any person or agency not entitled to receive it, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000.

(2) Any officer or employee of any agency who willfully maintains a system of records without meeting the notice requirements of subsection (e)(4) of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000.

(3) Any person who knowingly and willfully requests or obtains any record concerning an individual from an agency under false pretenses shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000.
United States - English