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Privacy Act of 1974

American law regarding the disclosure of personal information held by the US government

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A system of records is a group of records under the control of an agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifier assigned to the individual. The Privacy Act requires that agencies give the public notice of their systems of records by publication in the Federal Register. The Privacy Act prohibits the disclosure of information from a system of records absent of the written consent of the subject individual, unless the disclosure is pursuant to one of twelve statutory exceptions. The Act also provides individuals with a means by which to seek access to and amendment of their records and sets forth various agency record-keeping requirements. Additionally, with people granted the right to review what was documented with their name, they are also able to find out if the "records have been disclosed" and are also given the right to make corrections.

History

An idea enshrining a right to privacy became relevant when the Social Security number became a de facto identifier for people across the federal government, and computers installed across federal agencies in the late 1950s. In the early 1960s, there was widespread interest in a "federal data center," with Congress commissioning various reports looking into the idea.

However, with McCarthyism, the 1965–1966 Congressional wiretapping hearings, and cultural milestones like George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four, the public became concerned about the idea of the government knowing everything about an individual.

The idea of a "federal data bank" was debated in a series of Congressional hearings starting in 1966, one of them featuring author Vance Packard. He testified, "Big Brother, if he ever comes to the United States, may turn out to be...a relentless bureaucrat obsessed with efficiency."

By 1971, the Congressional hearings on privacy solidified a policy demand for an "American Bill of Rights on data," namely with a 1973 report called Records, Computers, and Rights of Citizens.

Passing a bill about the right to privacy became a priority in the light of Watergate and COINTELPRO, two scandals in which people and political parties considered "subversive" were subject to investigation and illegal surveillance by the government. President Nixon publicly supported the personal right to privacy in 1974, in an attempt to win back public trust in the government after Watergate.

Senator Sam Ervin was the bill's principal sponsor, especially as the House and Senate versions were combined. The law went into effect on September 27, 1975.

Although the Privacy Act was groundbreaking when it was passed, in subsequent years it has been criticized as lacking an enforcement mechanism. The United States is the only nation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development without a data protection agency to enforce privacy laws.

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