USPS logo LINK — USPS employee news Printable

Records rules

Employees must follow Privacy Act

Masked employee examines folder near file cabinet
USPS employees must follow federal guidelines established under the Privacy Act of 1974.

The Postal Service collects various types of personally identifiable information about customers, employees and businesses in order to carry out its mission.

USPS employees and contractors have a legal and ethical obligation to hold personal information in confidence and protect it from unauthorized disclosure and misuse.

Under the federal Privacy Act of 1974, you must follow these rules:

• Don’t disclose the contents of any record or information about another individual to any person or organization without proper authorization. Managers must provide guidance to all employees who handle such information.

• Don’t maintain a secret system of records — such as a file, database or program — that contains information about individuals. All records systems containing personally identifiable information about individuals must be reported to the Privacy and Records Management Office.

• Adhere strictly to the Postal Service’s established privacy policies and procedures to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of information about individuals that is collected, maintained and used for official USPS purposes.

To learn more about Postal Service policies and procedures governing the privacy of information, refer to Handbook AS-353, Guide to Privacy, the Freedom of Information Act, and Records Management and the USPS privacy policy.

To contact a Privacy and Records Management Office team member, send an email to privacy@usps.gov.