Privacy Act of 1974
The U.S. law governing how federal agencies collect, maintain, use, and disclose records about individuals, and granting people rights to access and amend their records.
The Privacy Act of 1974 is the U.S. federal law governing how agencies handle records about individuals maintained in a “system of records.” It restricts how personal information may be collected, used, and disclosed; requires agencies to maintain only relevant and necessary personal data; and grants individuals the right to access records about themselves and request amendment of inaccurate ones.
The Privacy Act sits alongside FOIA — both govern access to federal records, but FOIA concerns public access while the Privacy Act concerns an individual’s access to, and protection of, records about themselves. For records managers, the Act reinforces core disciplines: know what personal data you hold, keep only what is necessary, protect it, and dispose of it on schedule. It is one of several overlapping privacy regimes (with sector laws, GDPR, and state laws) that intersect with records retention.