Weekly Forum

Freedom of Information Act & the Privacy Act

Kennith Thurman

[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

Author Note

Freedom of Information Act & the Privacy Act

In the electronic age, the issue of privacy has become increasingly more serious. The right to privacy is a recognized as an individual right and refers to the ability to share or withhold information about oneself with the external world, on one’s own terms. In this regard, the ‘Wiretap Act’ is U.S. federal law that protects individual privacy in their communication. The law imposes civil and criminal penalties on intercepting, disclosing, or using any breached information for personal gains. A deliberate interception by means of which the contents of a communicating are acquired for the purpose of listening, disclosing or using that information is illegal under the Act CITATION Far19 \l 1033 (Farkas, 2019). Moreover, any pretexting to obtain, sell, or buy another individual’s phone records through fraudulent tactics or otherwise is illegal, except if it is acquired by an intelligence or law enforcement agency, under the ‘Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006’ which was signed by President Bush CITATION Bro07 \l 1033 (Broache, 2007). Moreover, federal agencies are also held accountable under the ‘Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)’ which allows everyone access to requested federal agency records as a right. Only records that are protected from disclosure under special exemptions by law enforcement agencies CITATION DHS171 \l 1033 (DHS, 2017). In this regard, the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse website provides citizens with a good overview of current consumer privacy rights by providing them educational resources to help raise their awareness, and thus, empower them to protect their privacy. The organization publishes original educational publications, and provides one-to-one-assistance to citizens, and advocates consumer-friendly privacy-related policy to stakeholders and legislators CITATION Pri19 \l 1033 (Privacy Rights, 2019).

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Broache, A. (2007, January 17). President signs pretexting bill into law. Retrieved May 22, 2019, from CNET: https://www.cnet.com/news/president-signs-pretexting-bill-into-law/

DHS. (2017). Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Act. Retrieved May 22, 2019, from Homeland Security: https://www.dhs.gov/freedom-information-act-and-privacy-act

Farkas, B. (2019). How the Wiretap Act Protects Personal Privacy. Retrieved May 22, 2019, from Lawyers: https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/personal-injury/types-of-personal-injury-claims/wiretap-act-privacy.html

Privacy Rights. (2019). Services. Retrieved May 22, 2019, from Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: https://www.privacyrights.org/about/services