How do the Privacy Act and FOIA differ in terms of disclosure?

• A. The Privacy Act protects individuals' personal information; FOIA provides public access to records with exemptions for sensitive data.
• B. FOIA protects personal information; Privacy Act provides public access to records
• C. Both provide public access to government records with no exemptions
• D. The Privacy Act applies to commercial businesses only

Answer: (D)

The key idea is that these laws move in opposite directions on disclosure. The Privacy Act governs how federal agencies handle records about individuals, restricting how those personal records can be disclosed and giving individuals rights to access and correct their information. FOIA flips the default: it requires agencies to disclose records to the public upon request, but with exemptions to protect privacy, national security, law enforcement, and other sensitive interests. So the statement that best captures the distinction is that the Privacy Act protects individuals’ personal information, while FOIA provides public access to records with exemptions for sensitive data. The notion that the Privacy Act applies only to commercial businesses isn’t accurate, since it applies to federal agency records about individuals, not private companies.