EPIC Backs Rep. Trahan’s Inquiry Into Privacy Act Reforms

EPIC is backing a new effort by Rep. Lori Trahan (MA-03) to gather information from the public about how the Privacy Act of 1974 should be updated. Adopted by Congress in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, the Privacy Act is the principal law governing the collection and disclosure of personal information held by federal agencies.

Although the Privacy Act establishes vital data protection safeguards, five decades of technological change and agency practice have highlighted shortcomings in the law. Over the past two months, the Privacy Act has come under direct attack by the “Department of Government Efficiency,” which has seized access to numerous agency databases of sensitive personal information in violation of the Privacy Act. EPIC and others have filed suit to halt these extraordinary privacy violations.

In the Request for Information published on Tuesday, Rep. Trahan asks how the Privacy Act should be updated to address emerging threats to privacy, federal use of AI, the availability of privacy enhancing technologies, and the need for greater accountability and transparency. “The combination of challenges stemming from unchecked government officials and significant technological advances warrant a reevaluation of the Privacy Act of 1974 and related laws governing privacy and federal information technology,” Rep. Trahan said.

“For fifty years, the Privacy Act has stood as a bulwark against the mishandling and political weaponization of personal information held by federal agencies,” EPIC Director of Litigation John Davisson said in support. “But decades of technological change and the current administration’s assault on privacy underscore the urgent need to strengthen those defenses. Rep. Trahan’s inquiry into how the Privacy Act should be updated and fortified could not be timelier. EPIC strongly endorses this effort, and we look forward to working together with Rep. Trahan to restore privacy protections and the rule of law to the federal government’s safekeeping of personal information.”

Comments in response to Rep. Trahan’s inquiry are due by April 30.