The Privacy
Act of 1974 protects certain federal government records
pertaining to individuals. In particular, the Act covers systems
of records that an agency maintains and retrieves by an individual's
name or other personal identifier (e.g., social security number).
A list
of the FTC's Privacy Act systems of records, including
the routine uses of those records,is published in the Federal
Register. The FTC's personnel records system and its consumer
complaint system are examples of FTC Privacy Act systems of
records.
In general, the Privacy Act prohibits unauthorized
disclosures of the records it protects. It also gives individuals
the right to review records about themselves, to find out
if these records have been disclosed, and to request corrections
or amendments of these records, unless the records are legally
exempt.
To obtain access to records about you that
may be in our systems of records, use our secure Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) Request Form. You will be given
access to any information that the FOIA and the Privacy Act
require us to disclose to you.
To find out whether a specific FTC Privacy
Act system contains any records about you, and, if so, to
learn if those records have been disclosed, or to correct
or amend records about you, use the FTC's procedures for Privacy
Act requests, published in Commission
Rule 4.13, 16 CFR 4.13.
Privacy of Non-Government Records
The Privacy Act of 1974 does not protect
the privacy of your records that are not maintained
by the federal government (e.g., credit report, bank account
and medical records). Nonetheless, your non-governmental records
may be protected by other federal and state laws, including
statutes
enforced by the FTC.
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