Page 1 GAO-23-105562: CASES Act Implementation
December 20, 2022
The Honorable Gerald E. Connolly
Chairman
Subcommittee on Government Operations
Committee on Oversight and Reform
House of Representatives
The Honorable Thomas R. Carper
United States Senate
The Honorable Rob Portman
United States Senate
Information Management: Agencies Need to Streamline Electronic Services
With certain enumerated exceptions, the Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits disclosure of records to
any person or agency, unless disclosure is pursuant to the prior written request by, or with the
prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains.
1
Accordingly, agencies have
developed various procedures and forms by which individuals may establish their identity and
request access to or provide written consent for the disclosure of their records.
To simplify and modernize this process, the Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services
for Constituents Act of 2019 (CASES Act) required the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) to issue applicable guidance. This guidance was to: (1) require agencies to accept
electronic identity proofing and authentication; (2) create a template for electronic consent and
access forms and requires each agency to post the template on the agency website; and (3)
require each agency to accept electronic consent and access forms from individuals that have
been properly identity proofed and authenticated.
2
You asked us to review the implementation of the CASES Act at OMB and federal agencies.
Our objective was to determine the extent to which OMB and selected agencies addressed the
requirements in the CASES Act.
1
With certain enumerated exceptions, “[n]o agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of
records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant written request by, or
with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains…” 5 U.S.C. §552a(b)
2
Creating Advanced Streamlined Electronic Services for Constituents Act of 2019, Pub. L. No. 116-50, 133 Stat.
1073-74 (Aug. 22, 2019).
