Transferring Private Information Among Agencies

Federal Agencies Share Citizen Information             Back to NCPA Debate Home Page

Privacy and Federal Agencies: Government Exchange and Merger of Citizens' Personal Information is Systematic and Routine A Special Report by Privacilla.org The Privacilla.org web site features a new study on federal transfers of data between federal agencies. This is an issue for a number of reasons. First and foremost, much data is collected by the federal government by force or the threat of force. Here are excerpts from the overview of the study: "More than once every other week, a federal government agency quietly announces a new plan to exchange and merge databases of personal information about American citizens. Under the "Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act," they do this routinely, systematically &emdash; and legally. Currently: The Internal Revenue Service and the Social Security Administration share personal information about American citizens. The Social Security Administration and the Health Care Financing Administration share personal information about American citizens. The Department of Justice and the Department of Veterans Affairs share personal information about American citizens. The Internal Revenue Service and state social services agencies share personal information about American citizens. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education share personal information about American citizens. The Social Security Administration and the state courts share personal information..." For the full study click here. Note that much of the information listed above is collected either under the threat of force (IRS and SS Admin., for example) and then is shared with other agencies whose operations would not on their own be able to compel citizens to reveal the same information. State agencies are not generally able to compel citizens to reveal private financial information, for example. But if they can get that same information from the Internal Revenue Service they can use it in ways taxpayers might not expect or want. This is the key issue that separates concerns with private sector firms gathering and sharing information about private citizens from government agencies gathering and sharing information. Private firms cannot compel people to reveal information about themselves and cannot use the threat of force. (And "threatening" not to issue a credit card or home loan is not a similar use of force.) -- Greg Rehmke