Privacy Act of 1974

E27431

The Privacy Act of 1974 is a U.S. federal law that governs how federal agencies collect, maintain, use, and disclose individuals’ personal information, granting citizens rights to access and correct records about themselves.


Statements (49)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal statute
privacy law
alsoKnownAs 5 U.S.C. 552a
amends 5 U.S.C. § 552a
appliesTo records maintained by United States federal agencies
systems of records retrieved by personal identifier
codifiedIn Title 5 of the United States Code
codifiedSection 5 U.S.C. § 552a
containsProvision agency record-keeping requirements
civil remedies for violations
conditions of disclosure of records without consent
criminal penalties for certain willful violations
exemptions for law enforcement and other systems
requirements for accounting of disclosures
country United States of America
surface form: United States
effectiveDate 1975-09-27
enactedBy United States Congress
establishes Privacy Protection Study Commission
grantsRight right of individuals to access records about themselves
right of individuals to request amendment of records about themselves
right to be informed of disclosures of records
right to sue for certain violations
hasException law enforcement exemption for certain systems of records
routine use exception for disclosures
jurisdiction United States government
surface form: federal government of the United States
legislativeBody United States House of Representatives
United States Senate
longTitle An Act to amend title 5, United States Code, by adding a section 552a to safeguard individual privacy from the misuse of Federal records, to provide that individuals be granted access to records concerning them which are maintained by Federal agencies, to establish a Privacy Protection Study Commission, and for other purposes
purpose to ensure fairness in agency record-keeping practices
to safeguard individual privacy from misuse of federal records
regulates collection of personal information by federal agencies
disclosure of personal information by federal agencies
maintenance of personal information by federal agencies
use of personal information by federal agencies
relatedTo Freedom of Information Act
requires federal agencies to allow individuals to request correction of records
federal agencies to establish safeguards for records
federal agencies to maintain only relevant and necessary information
federal agencies to provide individuals access to their records
federal agencies to publish system of records notices in the Federal Register
scopeLimitation does not generally apply to private sector records
does not generally apply to state or local government records
shortTitle Privacy Act of 1974 self-link
signedBy Gerald Ford
signingDate 1974-12-31
subjectMatter data protection
government records
information privacy
yearEnacted 1974

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

FBI data governance policies constrainedBy Privacy Act of 1974
93rd United States Congress enacted Privacy Act of 1974
Federal Records Act relatedTo Privacy Act of 1974
Freedom of Information Act relatedTo Privacy Act of 1974
Privacy Act of 1974 shortTitle Privacy Act of 1974 self-link