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Summary:
When Congress enacted the Privacy Act of 1974, it established a temporary
national study commission to conduct a comprehensive assessment of privacy policy and
practice in both the public and private sectors and to make recommendations for better
protecting the privacy of individuals. While the panel subsequently produced a
landmark July 1977 report, its recommendations were not legislatively implemented.
Nonetheless, interest in creating new arrangements for better implementing and
assessing federal privacy policies and practices continued, as the recent report of the
9/11 Commission attests. A responsive proposal offered of late in the 108th Congress
(H.R. 4414) would mandate designating a Chief Privacy Officer within the Office of
Management and Budget, as well as privacy officers in each principal department and
the independent agencies, and establishing a temporary commission to examine privacy
issues related to the government's anti-terrorism efforts. This report will be updated as
events warrant.
