The Privacy Act may be a direct bar to discovery under the
Federal Rules
of Civil and Criminal Procedure. The following three exceptions to
the Act's
general disclosure prohibition may often be available in civil or
criminal
discovery;
Disclosure to a government agency for a law
enforcement
purpose, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552a(b)(7);
Disclosure pursuant to a court order, 5 U.S.C. Sec.
552a(b)(11); and
Disclosure pursuant to a routine use as defined in writing by
the agency,
5 U.S.C. Sec. 552a(b)(3).
An agency may, upon receipt of a written request, disclose a
record to
another agency or unit of state or local government for a civil or
criminal law
enforcement activity without permission from the subject. The
request must
specify the law enforcement purpose for which the record is
requested and the
particular record requested; blanket requests for all records
pertaining to an
individual are not permitted. See 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552a(b)(7).
Disclosure demanded by an order from a court of competent
jurisdiction (5
U.S.C. Sec. 552a(b)(11)) or subpoena of an agency (5 U.S.C. Sec.
552a(e)(8)) is
another exception from the permission requirement which may be
employed in
responding to discovery in civil and criminal discovery. Note that
it is the
Department's policy that the mere issuance in discovery proceedings
of a subpoena
duces tecum which is always subject to the power of the court to
quash or limit,
does not meet the standard of (b)(11). In order to come within
the Privacy Act
exception permitting disclosure the court must specifically direct
that the
specific records in question be disclosed. See United States v.
Brown, 453
F.Supp. 798 (1978).
Records may also be disclosed without the prior consent of the
individual
for a "routine use" if that "routine use" has been specifically
described and
printed in the Federal Register, 5 U.S.C. Sec. 552a(b)(3).
A written accounting of the disclosure of records under
subsections (b)(11)
and (b)(7) and "routine uses" (b)(3) must be kept even though
permission from the
subject is not required. This includes both written and oral
disclosures. See
5 U.S.C. Sec. 552a(c).