The FWS Privacy Office ensures all Service information collection activities and information management operations adhere to the Privacy Act of 1974, the e-Government Act of 2002, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directives, Department of Interior (DOI) policies and procedures and other applicable regulation. The Privacy Act established controls over what personal information the Federal government may collect and how it may use or share that information. Section 208 of the e-Gov Act directs agencies to conduct privacy assessments on information technology systems that maintain Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on members of the public.
The Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552a), enacted in 1974, established controls over what personal information the Federal government collects and how it uses or discloses that information. The Privacy Act has four basic objectives that the Department of the Interior (DOI) is committed to fulfilling to the greatest extent possible:
- To restrict disclosure of personally identifiable records maintained by agencies;
- To grant individuals increased rights of access to agency records maintained on them;
- To grant individuals the right to seek amendment of agency records maintained on themselves upon a showing that the records are not accurate, relevant, timely, or complete; and
- To establish a code of "fair information practices" that requires agencies to comply with statutory norms for collection, maintenance, and dissemination of records.