Commemorating Freedom of Information Day 2016

March 16, 2016
(Image source: www.uakron.edu)

(Image source: www.uakron.edu)

Every year on the birthday of James Madison, the United States celebrates Freedom of Information Day.

Sharing this day with James Madison is no coincidence, as he is remembered historically as the foremost advocate for openness in Government.

The spirit of the day is tightly tied to the U.S. Government Publishing Office’s (GPO) Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP).  As members of the FDLP, depository libraries play a prominent role in providing Federal Government information to the public. FDLP libraries collaborate on a local and national level to provide informed access to both historical and current Federal Government resources. At the core of the FDLP is a desire to provide public access to Government information and to ensure the public’s right to know about its Government. GPO also provides digital access to authentic, published information on the three branches of the Federal Government on govinfo.

Related Resources in the U.S. Government Bookstore-

052-071-01545-1Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence (Pocket Edition)-  What better way to celebrate the Freedom of Information day than by reading the Constitution.  Even better, this version is a pocket version, so, you can take it with you wherever you go.

Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974, 2015 Edition9780160914461[1] – Issued biennially and prepared by the Department of Justice’s Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties (OPCL), the “Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974” is an up-to-date discussion of the Act’s disclosure prohibition, access and amendment provisions, and agency recordkeeping requirements. The overview provides reference to, and legal analysis of, the latest court decisions interpreting the Act.

008-020-01606-3 (2)Who Watches the Watchmen?: The Conflict between National Security and Freedom of the Press –  This publication attempts to answer two significant, timely questions:

  • What is the extent of the threat to national security posed by the media’s disclosure of classified information?
  • What are a journalist’s motivations and justifications for publishing this information?

The author concludes that the dilemma between withholding information in the interest of national security and the constitutional guarantee of a free press cannot be “solved”, but can be better understood and more intelligently managed. Foreign Denial & Deception Series.

Related Resources Available from the Catalog of U.S. Government Publications-

We the people : fulfilling the promise of open government five years after the OPEN Government Act : hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, first session, March 13, 2013

Related Resources Available from Govinfo.gov-

5 U.S.C. § 552– Starting on page 27, read the U.S.C. section on Public information; agency rules, opinions, orders, records, and proceedings.

Public Law 110-175- Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National Government Act of 2007-  Also knowns as the OPEN Government Act of 2007, this was signed into law on December 31, 2007.  This act amended the Freedom of Information Act.

90 Stat. 1241– Read about the Government in Sunshine Act (Public Law 94-409) that was passed on September 13, 1976.  This act is also part of the Freedom of Information Acts.

Rept. 112-689– A Citizen’s Guide on Using the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 to Request Government Records is a report by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  This document includes sections on what records can be requested under FOIA, requirements for agency responses, and reasons for denial of a FOIA request.

HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE RESOURCES?

You can click on the links above in the blog or through any of these methods:

 Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.

Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.

Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 4:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.

Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

About the author: Our guest blogger is Jaime Huaman, Outreach Librarian in GPO’s Library Services and Content Management (LSCM).

Leave a Comment » | Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP), Government Printing Office (GPO) | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Trudy Hawkins

The Privacy Act: What the Government Can Collect and Disclose about You

June 28, 2013

Privacy is the watchword in the news these days. With the revelations in recent weeks about far-reaching domestic surveillance programs by the National Security Agency (NSA) and other Federal agencies that were expanded under the Patriot Act, Americans are scrambling to determine what privacy rights they have to information collected by the Federal Government.

Overview-of-the-Privacy-Act-of-1974-2012-Edition-9780160914461Thus, the timing is ideal to review a biennial publication, Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974 (2012 Edition), available in print from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore.

The Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974 provides a valuable function to consumers, the media, Government and members of the legal profession by not only providing the current text of the Privacy Act and all its subsequent amendments, but also by consolidating the current regulations and updates, interpreting the Act’s provisions and giving detailed legal analysis of the latest court decisions that have decided challenges to how the Privacy Act has been enacted by various White House Administrations and Federal Agencies since the Act was passed.

What is covered by the Privacy Act?

The Privacy Act of 1974 established a “Code of Fair Information Practice that governs the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies.”

The Privacy Act protects certain federal government records pertaining to individuals. In particular, the Act covers “systems of records” that an agency maintains and retrieves by an individual’s name or other personal identifier, such as your social security number.  (For clarification, a “system of records” refers to a group of records or a file under the control of a particular Federal agency from which information is retrieved by the name of the individual or by some identifier assigned to the individual.)

With the advent of wide-spread use of computers and databases by the Federal Government, the Privacy Act was amended through the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988, which added certain protections for the subjects of Privacy Act records whose records are used in automated matching programs, such as the establishment of Data Integrity Boards at each agency.

Privacy Act Requirements

But what rights do individuals have under the Privacy Act? According to the Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974 (2012 Edition), it gives individuals the right to review records about themselves, to find out if these records have been disclosed, and to request corrections or amendments of these records, unless the records are legally exempt.

From reading the publication, it seems the Act also requires that a Federal Government agency must:

  • give the public notice of their systems of records by publishing them in the Federal Register (also available as a subscription from GPO);
  • follow strict record-keeping requirements;
  • request the written consent of the subject individual for disclosure of their personal information– “unless the disclosure is pursuant to one of twelve statutory exceptions;” and
  • provide individuals with a means  by which they can access and amend (review and correct) records stored about them.

Your-Right-to-Federal-Records-2011-coverYour Right to Federal Records

For information about your rights to “discover, access and amend” Government records about you and frequently asked questions and answers about the Privacy Act and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), you might want to check out the free publication, “Your Right to Federal Records“ available from the GSA’s Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC).

You may also be interested in learning more about the Freedom of Information Act by reading the Guide to the Freedom of Information Act, also published by the Justice Department and available in print from GPO.

Scope Issues

The Privacy Act does NOT apply to data collected about persons outside the United States, nor does it protect the privacy of your records that are maintained by the private sector, such as your credit report, bank account and medical records or even local or state government records like your driver’s license. Since many Americans today assumed that the battle to keep this non-Federal data private was already lost, it was comforting to discover that there is still a measure of privacy in data kept about you by the Federal Government.

And finally, while The Privacy Act does apply to the records of every “individual,” it nevertheless only applies to records held by an “agency.” Thus, any records ”held by courts, executive components, or non-agency government entities are not subject to the provisions in the Privacy Act and there is no right to these records.”  The Overview covers many questions about scope.

Exemptions and Exceptions

The most fascinating part of reading the publication to me– and timely considering the current news cycle– was to learn that there are situations where the Government is not legally required to follow the Privacy Act . According to the Overview, there are currently Twelve Exceptions to the “No Disclosure Without Consent” Rule of the Act and Ten Exemptions to the Privacy Act altogether where Federal agencies are not required to disclose records. 

Two of the ten exemptions outlined by the Overview are the “General Exemptions,” which apply to records about individuals maintained by

1)      the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and

2)      law enforcement agencies— or a component thereof— that primarily perform criminal law enforcement duties, “including police efforts to prevent, control, or reduce crime or to apprehend criminals.”

New proposed exemptions are offered all the time by subsequent Congresses and Administrations, such as the George W. Bush Administration’s agreement signed with the European Union in 2007 to share an airline’s Passenger Name Record as well as the utilize the Automated Targeting System.

Protecting-your-privacy

The questions about what constitute personally identifying data; what legal exemptions and exceptions apply; and how the Privacy Act has been interpreted over time by Federal Agencies, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Federal courts make up a good part of the Overview.

With post-9/11 security concerns driving Agencies’ desire for more information coupled with rapidly evolving technologies that enable greater collection and analysis of data, the publishers of the Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974 will certainly be kept very busy in upcoming years reporting on and analyzing new privacy regulations and court decisions that will follow.

How Can I Obtain These Privacy Publications?

Anyone concerned with the laws governing what the Federal Government is collecting and disclosing about individuals in the United States—and how much individuals can learn about it—should read this important publication.

  • Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974 (2012 Edition) in Print
    • Shop Online: Buy a print edition on the GPO U.S. Government Online Bookstore NOW ON SALE!!
    • Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.
    • Visit our Retail Store: Buy it at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, (202) 512-0132.
    • Find it in a Library: Search for it in a Federal Depository Library.

About the Author: Government Book Talk Editor Michele Bartram is Promotions Manager for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Division in Washington, DC, and is responsible for online and offline marketing of the US Government Online Bookstore (http://bookstore.gpo.gov) and promoting Federal government content to the public.

9 Comments | Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Executive Branch, Federal Government Role, General Services Administration (GSA), Judicial Branch, Law Enforcement, Legislative Branch, National Security Agency, Office of Management and Budget | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michele Bartram, U.S. Government Online Bookstore