US lawmaker unveils plan for sweeping overhaul of Privacy Act
US lawmaker unveils plan for sweeping overhaul of Privacy Act
https://www.biometricupdate.com/202602/us-lawmaker-unveils-plan-for-sweeping-overhaul-of-privacy-act
Publish Date: 2026-02-22 15:26:00
Source Domain: www.biometricupdate.com
Democratic Rep. Lori Trahan this week released a sweeping report arguing that the decades old Privacy Act of 1974, once a landmark safeguard against government overreach, is now structurally incapable of protecting Americans in an era defined by cloud computing, data brokers, and AI.
“Over fifty years later, privacy pessimism, cynicism, and fatalism predominate,” the report warns.
The 68-page report was developed after Trahan issued a Request for Information (RFI) in March 2025 seeking public input on how to update the foundational federal privacy law.
Trahan frames the report as deliberately bipartisan and bicameral in scope. The executive summary states that its recommendations are designed “to make responsible data processing easier and irresponsible data processing impossible.”
Drawing on responses from civil organizations, former federal officials, industry stakeholders, and privacy advocates, the report lays out a detailed legislative roadmap aimed at overhauling how the federal government collects, processes, shares, and oversees personal data.
“The Privacy Act was written for a world of file cabinets and mainframe computers, not one defined by cloud storage, data brokers, and AI,” Trahan said in a statement accompanying the report’s release. “Americans should be able to trust that their personal information is handled responsibly by their government.”
Enacted in the aftermath of Watergate and revelations of illegal domestic surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Privacy Act of 1974 established rules governing federal agencies’ collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information.
“For all of their prescience, the Privacy Act’s authors did not, and could not, design a law capable of handling transformational technologies like artificial intelligence. Nor could they have accounted for the aggrandizing nature of the modern imperial presidency,” Trahan said in the report’s…
