PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT OF 1980

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP85-00003R000300040002-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 23, 2007
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: October 14, 1980
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Administration of Jimmy Carter, 1980 Oct. 14
-Privacy Protection Act of 1980
Statement,on Signing S. 1790 Into Law.
October 14, 1980
I am pleased to sign the Privacy Pro-
tection Act of 1980, a bill which provides
vital safeguards for our free press.
The Supreme Court's 1978 decision in
Zurcher v. Stamford Daily raised the con-
cern that law enforcement authorities
could conduct unannounced searches of
reporters' notes and files to seek evidence.
Such a practice could have a chilling ef-
fect on the ability of reporters to develop
sources and pursue stories. Ever since the
Court's decision, my administration has
been working with Congress to prevent
this result by enacting legislation.
This bill requires Federal, State, and
local authorities either to request volun-
tary compliance or to use subpoenas-
with advance notice and the opportunity
for a court hearing instead of search
warrants when they seek reporters' mater-
ials as evidence. The bill also covers
others engaged in first amendment activi-
ties such as authors and scholars. Searches
are allowed only in very limited situations.
The bill also directs the Attorney Gen-
eral to issue guidelines for Federal law en-
forcement officers to minimize intrusion
when documentary evidence of a crime is
sought from innocent third parties who
are not members of the press. Those
guidelines are already being written and
the Attorney General expects to issue them
in the near future. I am pleased that the
Federal Government is taking the lead in
providing these privacy protections. I urge
the States to follow suit.
This bill provides important civil liber-
ties protections without hampering legiti-
mate law enforcement investigations. I
congratulate Senators Birch Bayh, Ed-
ward Kennedy, and Strom Thurmond,
and Congressmen Robert Drinan, Robert
Kastenmeier, Tom Railsback, and Peter
Rodino, who played crucial roles in pass-
ing this legislation.
The Privacy Protection Act is an inte-
gral part of my administration's strong,
ongoing commitment to a national pri-
vacy policy. In this wide-ranging program,
we have reversed the historic growth in
collection of personal data by the Govern-
ment. We have reduced the size of these
Government files by more than 10 percent.
Congress has nearly completed action on
legislation I submitted last year to protect
medical records. I expect that bill to pass
in the November session, and I look for-
ward to working with the next Congress
to enact credit, banking, and insurance
privacy legislation. Finally, I am pleased
that the first international guidelines on
transfer of personal data across borders
have just been adopted by the member
countries of the Organization for Econo-
mic Cooperation and Development, in-
cluding the United States.
I also wish to note the progress we are
making on other aspects of civil liberties.
The Justice Department is today an-
nouncing final guidelines requiring Fed-
eral lawyers to oppose closing trials and
other legal proceedings except in very
limited circumstances. The principle that
justice should be done in public is a basic
part of our legal tradition.
This legislation and these other actions,
have helped preserve our country's basic
freedoms.
NOTE: As enacted, S. 1790 is Public Law
96-440, approved October 13.