Privacy Act safeguards personal information

  • Published
  • By Tech Sgt. Richard Reiner
  • 911th Privacy Act Monitor
PITTSBURGH AIR RESERVE STATION, Pa. --  Personal information should never be placed on shared drives for access by groups of individuals unless each person has an official need to know the information to perform their job. To ensure this information is protected users can add the appropriate access controls to ensure access by only the authorized individuals.
Also commanders and supervisors should give consideration to those individuals with unlisted phone numbers, who do not want their number included on the office recall roster.
Examples of information that is not releasable without the written consent of the subject:
· Marital status (single, divorced, widowed, separated)
· Number, name, and sex of dependents
· Civilian education degrees and major areas of study (unless the request for the information relate to the professional qualifications for Federal employment).
· School and year of graduation.
· Home of record.
· Home address and phone.
· Age and date of birth (year).
· Present or future assignments for overseas or for routinely deployable or sensitive units.
· Office and unit address and duty phone for overseas or for routinely deployable units.
· Race/ethnic origin
· Educational level (unless the request for the information relates to the professional qualifications for Federal employment).
· Social Security Number.
Information system that contain information individuals that is retrieved by name or personal identifier are subject to the Privacy Act. All information systems subject to the Privacy Act will have warning banners displayed on the first screen (at a minimum) to assist in safeguarding the information. Use the following language for the banner:
"PRIVACY ACT INFORMATION - The information accessed through this system is FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY and must be protected in accordance with the Privacy Act and AFI 33-332."
Exercise caution before transmitting personal information over e-mail to ensure it is adequately safeguarded. Some information may be so sensitive and personal that e-mail may not be the proper way to transmit it. When sending personal information over e-mail within DOD, ensure:
· There is an official need
· All addressee(s) (including "cc" addressees) are authorized to receive it under the Privacy Act.
· It is protected from unauthorized disclosure, loss, or alteration.
When transmitting personal information over e-mail, add "FOUO" to the beginning of the subject line, followed the subject, and apply the following statement at the beginning of the e-mail:
"This e-mail contains FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY (FOUO) information which must be protected under the Privacy Act and AFI 33-332."