The centerpiece of the fed. gov¿t¿s. legal framework for privacy protection, The Privacy Act of 1974, provides safeguards for information maintained by fed. agencies. In addition, the E-Gov¿t. Act of 2002 requires fed. agencies to conduct privacy impact assessments for systems of collections containing personal information. This report determines whether laws and guidance consistently cover the fed. gov¿t¿s. collection and use of personal information and incorporates key privacy principles. This report identifies options for addressing these issues. To achieve these objectives, the author obtained an operational perspective from fed. agencies, and consulted an expert panel convened by the Nat. Acad. of Sciences. Includes recommendations. Illus.