Answer :
Final answer:
The Privacy Act of 1974 is designed to protect personal information handled by federal agencies, limiting the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personal data, and providing individuals with rights to access and amend their records.The correct answer is option c.
Explanation:
The Privacy Act of 1974 safeguards personal information from unauthorized use. It does not authorize the unrestricted collection or disclosure of information, official or personal, as it is designed to provide protections against such practices.
The Privacy Act of 1974 establishes a code of fair information practices that govern the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of information about individuals that is maintained in systems of records by federal agencies. A central goal of the act is to protect the privacy of individuals by ensuring that personal information collected by federal agencies is limited to that which is legally authorized and necessary. Moreover, it restricts the disclosure of such information without the consent of the individual, except under explicitly defined circumstances. The act provides individuals with a means to seek access to and amendment of their records, ensuring that personal data held by the government is accurate and protected from misuse.
Although the act does allow for some exceptions where agencies may disclose information - for example, for national security or law enforcement purposes - these are closely regulated to prevent unauthorized use. The Privacy Act is part of a broader set of laws aimed at protecting citizen privacy, alongside other legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.