The Privacy Act of 1974 was enacted as a companion to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 1966, which established that government records must be accessible to the people. Before 1966 individuals had to show evidence to prove that they had sufficient right and necessity to gain access to records of any agency or department of the executive branch of government. After passage of the FOIA, the burden of proof shifted to the government, which now must present evidence to justify why private citizens should not view government documents. The FOIA does not open all documents to the public; certain critical exceptions apply, including documents related to elected officials of the federal government, private companies or individuals receiving federal contracts or grants, and documents from state and local governments. In addition, the FOIA permits affected agencies to reject information requests that might harm national defense and foreign policy, or invade the privacy of individuals or businesses. The law, however, does provide individuals with a process by which to appeal such refusals.
The Privacy Act of 1974 was enacted in response to President Richard M. Nixon’s impeachment investigation. The public became concerned that politicians might abuse the power of the federal government to gather information on private citizens for their own benefit. The Privacy Act regulates the government’s record keeping and disclosure practices, requiring each agency to gather information for individual files from the individuals directly, and not from spies or acquaintances. It also prohibits information gathered for one purpose from being used for another purpose, effectively prohibiting the government from creating secret files on its citizens. The Privacy Act also creates a mechanism by which individuals can examine, copy, and, if necessary, amend their personal records, which the federal government uses and maintains. As with the FOIA, the Privacy Act only applies to agencies and departments within the executive branch, and does not apply to state and local governments.
The Privacy Act of 1974 has been amended a dozen times since its initial passage; the most significant of the amendments occurred in 1988 and 1996. The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 added new provisions to the Privacy Act to reflect the changes in computerized record keeping. Further changes were added in 1996 to account for the Internet and the implications of electronic indexing. As the Internet becomes a more prominent part of work, commerce, and daily routine, the issue of individual privacy becomes ever more important. So, the federal government will necessarily be forced to reconsider the balance between the rights of individual privacy and the necessities of national security and public order.
See also COMPUTERS; crime; globalization; Internet; Watergate scandal.
—Aharon W. Zorea
World History
