Overview
FAR Part 24 prescribes policies and procedures to ensure Federal agencies and their contractors comply with the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). It establishes the framework for protecting personally identifiable information (PII) within government systems and defines the limitations and requirements for disclosing government records to the public.
Key Rules
- Privacy Act Applicability: When a contractor is hired to design, develop, or operate a "system of records" on behalf of an agency, the requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 apply to that contractor and its employees.
- Criminal and Civil Liability: Contractor employees are considered agency employees regarding criminal penalties for Privacy Act violations. Agencies may also face civil liability if they fail to ensure contractor compliance.
- FOIA Prohibitions: Agencies are prohibited from releasing contractor proposals submitted in response to competitive solicitations under FOIA, unless the proposal is specifically incorporated into the final contract.
- Mandatory Privacy Training: Contractors must provide initial and annual privacy training to any employees who handle PII, have access to a system of records, or design/operate such systems.
- Training Content Standards: Training must be role-based, include measures to test knowledge, and cover topics such as PII safeguarding, authorized use of records, and breach response procedures.
- FOIA Exemptions: While FOIA promotes transparency, specific exemptions apply to classified information, trade secrets, confidential commercial/financial information, and personal/medical files.
Responsibilities
- Contracting Officers (COs):
- Review requirements to determine if the contract involves a system of records.
- Identify specific systems of records in the Statement of Work (SOW).
- Insert mandatory clauses (52.224-1, 52.224-2, and 52.224-3) in solicitations and contracts.
- Consult with agency FOIA experts and the Department of Justice when handling complex disclosure requests.
- Contractors:
- Ensure all applicable employees complete mandatory initial and annual privacy training.
- Maintain documentation of training completion and provide it to the government upon request.
- Restrict access to PII and systems of records to only those employees who have completed the required training.
- Adhere to agency-specific rules and regulations regarding the Privacy Act.
- Agencies:
- Provide contractors with implementing rules and regulations.
- Specify if only agency-provided training is acceptable (via Alternate I of the training clause).
Practical Implications
For contractors, FAR Part 24 means that data management is not just a technical requirement but a legal one with significant liability. Companies bidding on contracts involving HR, healthcare, or IT systems must account for the administrative overhead of tracking annual employee training and ensuring strict access controls. From a competitive standpoint, the FOIA prohibitions provide a "safe harbor" for bidders, ensuring that their proprietary technical and management proposals remain protected from competitors' public information requests, provided those proposals are not explicitly written into the final award document. Contractors should also be aware that the definition of a "system of records" is specific: it refers to any group of records where information is retrieved by a name or identifying number.