What is the Privacy Act of 1974?
The Privacy Act of 1974 is a U.S. law enacted in 1974 to establish a code of fair information practices governing the collection, maintenance, use and dissemination of information about individuals maintained in systems by federal agencies. Under the act, agencies must give public notice in the Federal Register of agency systems of records. E.g., DOJ systems of records: https://www.justice.gov/opcl/doj-systems-records. The Privacy Act prohibits disclosure of records absent consent, unless pursuant to a statutory exception. It also provides a way for individuals to access and amend their records.