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Personal Information: Agencies and Resellers Vary in Providing Privacy Protections

GAO-06-609T Published: Apr 04, 2006. Publicly Released: Apr 04, 2006.
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Highlights

Federal agencies collect and use personal information for various purposes from information resellers--companies that amass and sell data from many sources. GAO was asked to testify on its report being issued today on agency use of reseller data. For that report, GAO was asked to determine how the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and State and the Social Security Administration use personal data from resellers and to review the extent to which information resellers' policies and practices reflect the Fair Information Practices, a set of widely accepted principles for protecting the privacy and security of personal data. GAO also examined agencies' policies and practices for handling personal data from resellers to determine whether these reflect the Fair Information Practices.

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Data collectionInformation accessInformation securityPrivacy lawRight of privacyPrivacy policiesInformation resellersPersonal informationPolicies and proceduresLaw enforcement