Privacy Act of 1974 Has Little Impact on Federal Contractors

Under the Privacy Act of 1974, Federal agencies must publish at least annually in the Federal Register notices on all their "systems of records" containing information about people. Information to be published in the Federal Register describes categories of records maintained, sources for the information, and the routine uses of the records. Subsection 3(m) of the Privacy Act, the only one focusing on the private sector, states that, "When an agency provides by a contract for the operation by or on behalf of the agency of a system of records to accomplish an agency function, the agency shall, consistent with its authority, cause the requirements of the act to be applied to each system."