The Privacy Act of 1974 5 U.S.C. §552a As Amended
The text of the Privacy Act can be read in two formats:
Your General Rights Under PA
Enacted in 1974, the PA, 5 U.S.C. 552a, provides US citizens or permanent resident aliens (PRAs) with a right of access to information concerning themselves that is maintained by any agency in the Executive Branch of the federal government. The Act also established controls over what personal information the federal government collects and how it uses or discloses that information. What follows is a general discussion of your rights under the PA (The complete act and CIA regulations governing administration of the PA are available using the links above, and Code of Federal Regulations, Central Intelligence Agency, 32 CFR.). For your information, we also have provided a copy of our FOIA Annual Report that outlines our administration of the act. The Act guarantees three primary rights:
- The right to see records about yourself.
- The right to amend that record if it is inaccurate, irrelevant, untimely, or incomplete.
- The right to sue the federal government if it violates the statute, for example, allowing unauthorized individuals access to your records.
Your Right to CIA Information Under PA
What Kinds of Records CIA Collects
To better understand the information which is available, users should
note that the CIA was organized pursuant to the National Security Act of
1947 and that its primary mission is the collection and analysis of foreign
intelligence information for use by our nation's leadership; the CIA has
no police, subpoena, law enforcement, or internal security functions.
Limits to Public Access
The Agency's information on you must be retrievable from its record
systems by your name, a number such as a social security number, or some
other personal identifier. It should be noted that the Act does not apply
to information about you in records filed under other subjects, such as
organizations and events, unless they are retrievable by your name or other
personal identifier.
What the CIA Must Protect
The PA allows the Agency to exempt certain records from disclosure.
Exempt in their entirety are polygraph records. Exempt in part are those
portions of records that contain classified information, information concerning
intelligence sources and methods, or information about other persons.