OVERVIEW OF THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974

AGENCY REQUIREMENTS

Each agency that maintains a system of records shall--

H. 5 U.S.C. § 552a(e)(8)

"make reasonable efforts to serve notice on an individual when any record on such individual is made available to any person under compulsory legal process when such process becomes a matter of public record."

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This provision becomes applicable when subsection (b)(11) "court order" disclosures occur. See, e.g., Moore v. United States Postal Serv., 609 F. Supp. 681, 682 (E.D.N.Y. 1985); see also OMB Guidelines, 40 Fed. Reg. 28,948, 28,965 (1975). By its terms, it requires notice not prior to the making of a legally compelled disclosure, but rather at the time that the disclosure becomes a matter of public record. Kassel v. VA, No. 87-217-S, slip op. at 30 (D.N.H. Mar. 30, 1992); see also Moore, 609 F. Supp. at 682 ("§552a(e)(8) does not speak of advance notice of release"); cf. Mangino v. Department of the Army, No. 94-2067, 1994 WL 477260, at **11-12 (D. Kan. Aug. 24, 1994) (citing Moore for proposition that subsection (e)(8) does not require advance notice, although finding no allegation that disclosure at issue was made "under compulsory legal process").


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