USTR Proposing Revision of Privacy Act Regulations

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is proposing to rewrite its 41-year-old Privacy Act rule, to update general policies for individuals requesting access to records, how the agency will respond to a Privacy Act request, individuals’ appeals, fees, exemptions, security of records, collection of Social Security numbers, and USTR employee responsibilities under the act, among other things, USTR said (here). USTR will accept comments through Jan. 21. In a separate proposed rule (here), USTR underscored plans to change its system of records. The agency will accept comments on that proposed rule until Jan. 21, and said it intends to implement the changes on Feb. 5, unless it "makes changes based on comments or otherwise."