THE PRIVACY ACT

The next time some employee complains that you are violating their rights under the Privacy Act -- here's how to pop that little bubble:

Point out that the Privacy Act does not apply to private companies.

The Privacy Act was enacted to prevent federal government agencies from disclosing any record that is contained in a system of records -- by any means of communication -- to any person, or to another agency -- except under terms of a written request by, or with prior written consent of, the person to whom the record pertains.

Employee medical records cannot be disclosed without the employee's written consent.