President Ford Signs Privacy Act
President Gerald Ford signed the 1974 Privacy Act (passed by Congress on December 31, 1974) into law on this day.
The law prohibits the disclosure of personal information by any federal agency without the written consent of the individual and gives individuals the right of access to their own files, as well as the right to add information if they disagree with information contained in the file.
The Privacy Act: “No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains . . .”
President Ford’s signing statement: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4738
Read about the history of privacy: Sarah Igo, The Known Citizen: A History of Privacy in Modern America (2020)