The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-108 require agencies (and their contractors) to provide a Privacy Act statement, if there is a collection of personally identifiable information (PII) that will be stored in a system of records, regardless of how the collection occurs. The agency is required to provide a Privacy Act statement on the form used to collect the information or on a separate form that can be retained by the individual.
Among other things, the Privacy Act statement describes the legal authority that authorizes the collection, whether the collection is mandatory or voluntary, the primary purpose for which the information is collected, the effect of not providing the information, and how else the agency may use the information pursuant to a routine use. In situations where we collect information by telephone, the agency shall orally provide the required information and provide a means by which the individual can receive the information in writing: