Can the government share my personal information between agencies?

What the Law Says

The Privacy Act of 1974 establishes strict limits on how federal agencies may collect, maintain, use, and disseminate personally identifiable information about individuals.

The Act applies to records maintained by federal agencies in a 'system of records' — meaning records retrievable by an individual's name or identifier. It gives individuals rights to access and amend their records, and critically, restricts disclosure of those records to third parties—including other federal agencies.

Disclosure to another agency is treated the same as disclosure to any third party: it is prohibited unless one of twelve statutory exceptions applies. These include disclosures made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), for routine uses compatible with the purpose for which the record was collected, for law enforcement purposes under certain conditions, or with the individual’s prior written consent.

The Act also imposes civil liability on agencies that intentionally or willfully violate its provisions, potentially entitling individuals to actual damages, attorney’s fees, and litigation costs.

Statutory Text

No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains...

— Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)

Statutory Text

The head of an agency may promulgate rules... prescribing the conditions upon which a record contained in a system of records may be disclosed... including... (1) to those officers and employees of the agency which maintains the record who have a need for the record in the performance of their duties.

— Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. § 552a(b)(1)

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