The Department provides public access to documentation produced through the Department’s compliance with and implementation of the Privacy Act of 1974 and the e-Government Act of 2002.

System of Records Notices

The Privacy Act applies to records which are retrieved using a unique personal identifier for an individual, such as a name or a unique identifying number, such as a Social Security Number.

DOE provides notice to the public regarding the Department’s collection, use, and maintenance of personal information under the Privacy Act through a System of Record Notice published in the Federal Register. The complete list of DOE’s current Privacy Act System of Records Notices (SORN) can be accessed HERE. 

Privacy Impact Assessments

Section 208 of the e-Government Act requires federal agencies to conduct assessments of privacy risk for the collection of personally identifiable information by agency IT systems and programs. DOE program and system owners are required to conduct a preliminary assessment, called a Privacy Needs Assessment, to document the collection of PII. Systems or programs which collect PII complete Privacy Impact Assessments, which include detailed information and impact created by the intended use, sharing, and retention of the PII by DOE. PIAs are approved by the DOE Chief Privacy Officer.

PIAs involving information collections or IT systems about members of the public are available to the public for review (DOE Order 206.1).  Some PIAs are currently available on our website HERE. 

PIAs which are not currently available on the DOE website can be requested through the Department’s Freedom of Information Act process. For more information on how to submit a FOIA request, please visit the DOE FOIA page HERE.

DOE Privacy Policy

Section 208 of the e-Government Act also requires Federal Departments and Agencies to post privacy notices on their websites. These privacy policies provide notice on the direct and indirect collection and use of information collected when you visit the energy.gov website or other DOE website pages. DOE’s Privacy Policy can be found HERE.

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