Violating Privacy in Private: How Epic v. DHS Creates an Impossible Burden on Plaintiffs Trying to Demonstrate a Privacy Act Violation

Abstract

On July 15, 2011, in Electronic Privacy Information Center v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that to prove a violation of the Privacy Act, a plaintiff must show evidence of specific conduct. Yet, the current system of Freedom of Information Act exceptions and presumptions makes it exceedingly difficult for a plaintiff to gain access to evidence of specific conduct. Therefore, this Comment argues that these presumptions make it almost impossible for a plaintiff to discover and sue a defense agency for a Privacy Act violation, thereby leaving no realistic opportunity for relief to aggrieved parties.