Florence Olsen writes on FCW:
Federal agencies increasingly rely on information from commercial data brokers to detect and investigate fraud, verify people’s identities and determine eligibility for benefits. However, agencies often do not exercise the same privacy precautions with that data as they do with information they collect themselves, and some lawmakers and privacy advocates are concerned about the consequences of that trend.
Several witnesses at a congressional hearing March 11 on agencies’ use of commercial data said the Office of Management and Budget has provided ambiguous privacy guidance on the matter. Others said additional legislation is necessary to address technological advances in data collection that were not anticipated when current privacy laws were enacted. Another witness endorsed the idea of forming a commission to make comprehensive recommendations for updating the Privacy Act of 1974.Â
Full story – FCWÂ