The Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, establishes a code of fair information practices that governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies. 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. List of DOJ systems of records and Federal Register citations. The Privacy Act prohibits the disclosure of information from a system of records absent 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.

The "Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974" is a discussion of the Privacy Act's disclosure prohibitions, its access and amendment provisions, and its agency recordkeeping requirements. Any questions regarding the Overview may be directed to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Office staff.