CDT Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Committee on State Dept. Passport Privacy Breaches

CDT told the Senate Judiciary Committee today that the illegal browsing of passport information by State Department employees indicates a lack of adequate internal controls to protect personal information and shows a disregard for basic privacy laws. CDT said that the department’s overall privacy program has lacked vision, direction, and resources for several years. However, the department is not alone in its failure to protect information; as government studies show, privacy procedures at many large agencies are weak. CDT called on Congress and the Administration to work together on closing well-known gaps in the aging Privacy Act and made several recommendations consistent with those outlined in GAO reports issued earlier regarding government privacy policies.