The Privacy Act (PA) of 1974 is a federal law set forth in Title 5, Section 552a of the United States Code (5 U.S.C. § 552a), as amended. The purpose of the Privacy Act is to balance the Government’s need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasions of privacy resulting from the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information.

In general, the Privacy Act allows individuals to learn how the federal government collects, maintains, uses, and disseminates records containing personal information. It also safeguards confidentiality by limiting or restricting the disclosure of personally identifiable records maintained by federal agencies.

The Privacy Act allows individuals to gain access to their own personal records, unless the requested records are exempt from disclosure, and to seek correction or amendment of federally maintained records that are inaccurate, incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant. As such, the Privacy Act establishes a code of fair information practices that requires federal agencies to comply with statutory standards for collecting, maintaining, and disseminating records containing information about individuals.

Under the Privacy Act, you may request copies of Agency records that are about you and that are filed and can be retrieved by your name or by a personal identifier. You may also request that the Agency correct records that are inaccurate, incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant.

Please note that in some cases, the Privacy Act may not permit the release of certain personal records if they fall under specific statutory exemptions.

Normally, you can expect a response to your FOIA request within 20 workdays from the date the request is received. If a special situation exists, the FOIA Office will contact you with an estimated completion date and explain the reason or reasons for any delay.

In fairness to all requesters, FOIA requests that cannot be answered within 20 workdays are placed in a multi-track system in accordance with Agency regulations. These requests are generally processed in the order they are received within each track.

For Privacy Act requests, the Agency will make a record available within 20 workdays after receipt of your request. If a delay of more than 20 workdays is expected, you will be notified in writing of the reason for the delay and the date when the record will be available.

You may be asked to provide additional information to clarify your request. The Agency will have an additional 20 workdays after receipt of the new information to provide the record to you or to issue another acknowledgment letter if a delay in locating the record is expected.

Under certain conditions, you may be entitled to have your FOIA request processed on an expedited basis. There are specific situations where a request will be expedited, which means that it is handled as soon as practicable.

First, a request will be expedited if the lack of expedited treatment could reasonably be expected to pose an imminent threat to someone’s life or physical safety.

Second, a request will be expedited if the information requested is urgently needed to inform the public concerning some actual or alleged federal government activity, and if it is made by a person primarily engaged in disseminating information to the public, such as a member of the news media.

Third, a request will be expedited if an individual would suffer the loss of substantial due process rights. A request will not normally be expedited merely because the requester is facing a court deadline in a judicial proceeding.

If you believe that your request might qualify for expedited processing under one of these standards, you must specifically request expedited handling. When doing so, you must provide a statement, certified to be true and correct, explaining why you believe your request qualifies under the applicable standard. For further instructions on submitting an expedited request, please consult the Agency’s Freedom of Information Act Regulations.

The Agency will make every effort to process your Privacy Act request within the 20 workday time frame.

Agencies are authorized by law to recover the direct costs of providing information to a requester. Depending on the nature of your request, you may be required to pay fees for searching, reviewing, and copying records. You will be notified in advance if these fees are expected to exceed $25.

For fee purposes, the FOIA requires that requesters be placed into one of the following categories:

Commercial use requesters: These requesters pay search, review, and reproduction fees.
News media, educational, or scientific institutions: These requesters pay reproduction fees only, with the first 100 pages provided at no cost.
All other requesters: These requesters pay search and reproduction fees, with the first two hours of search time and the first 100 pages provided at no cost.

Please specify the fee category into which you believe your request falls and state the maximum amount of fees you are willing to pay, or include a request for a fee waiver.

Under FOIA, fee waivers may be granted if the disclosure of the requested information is determined to be in the public interest. To qualify, a request must meet both of the following requirements:

1. Public Understanding: The disclosure must be likely to contribute significantly to the public's grasp of how the government operates or conducts its activities. This assessment considers whether the records specifically involve government functions and if their release would provide a meaningful increase in public knowledge.

2. Non-Commercial Interest: The primary purpose of the disclosure must not be to further the requester’s commercial interests.

A formal request for a fee waiver must be thoroughly documented with a detailed written justification explaining how these criteria are met. For more specific guidance on the waiver process, please refer to the Agency's Freedom of Information Act regulations.