A CITIZEN'S GUIDE ON USING THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
AND THE PRIVACY ACT OF 1974 TO REQUEST GOVERNMENT RECORDS[ table of contents ] [ next section ]
VII. J. APPEALS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENCY RESPONSES
An agency that receives a request for amendment under the Privacy Act must acknowledge receipt of the request within 10 days (not including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays). The agency must promptly rule on the request.
The agency may make the amendment requested. If so, the agency must notify any person or agency to which the record had previously been disclosed of the correction.
If the agency refuses to make the change requested, the agency must inform the requester of: (1) the agency's refusal to amend the record; (2) the reason for refusing to amend the request; and (3) the procedures for requesting a review of the denial. The agency must provide the name and business address of the official responsible for conducting the review.
An agency must decide an appeal of a denial of a request for amendment within 30 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays), unless the time period is extended by the agency for good cause. If the appeal is granted, the record will be corrected.
If the appeal is denied, the agency must inform the requester of the right to judicial review. In addition, a requester whose appeal has been denied also has the right to place in the agency file a concise statement of disagreement with the information that was the subject of the request for amendment.
When a statement of disagreement has been filed and an agency is disclosing the disputed information, the agency must mark the information and provide copies of the statement of disagreement. The agency may also include a concise statement of its reasons for not making the requested amendments. The agency must also give a copy of the statement of disagreement to any person or agency to whom the record had previously been disclosed.
Footnotes