The Privacy Act (PA) regulates the federal government's collection, maintenance, use and dissemination of personal information about U.S. citizens and aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence. Among the rights afforded under the PA is an individual's right to obtain copies of records maintained on him/her if the information contained in agency files, retrievable by the individual's name or other identifier, is not exempt from release under the provisions of the law.
The goal of the FOIA/PA office at NSA is to release as much information as possible, consistent with the need to protect information under the exemption provisions of these laws.