About the TVA Privacy Program

The Tennessee Valley Authority Privacy Program is part of the IT Enterprise Information Security & Policy organization and is responsible for the protection of personally identifiable information (PII) at TVA.

Privacy Impact Assessments

The E-Government Act of 2002 requires TVA to conduct Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and make them publicly available on the TVA website. The TVA PIAs can be downloaded by clicking the links below.

System of Records Notices

The Privacy Act of 1974 requires TVA to inform the public when TVA collects and maintains PII in a System of Records. These public disclosures are called System of Record Notices (SORNs). The TVA SORNs can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

Laws and Regulations

The TVA Privacy Program works to ensure compliance with federal privacy laws and regulations, including those listed in the links below.

Website Privacy Policies

View the Privacy Policy for tva.com or the Privacy Policy for tvakids.com.

Privacy Act Requests

A Privacy Act request allows individuals to gain access to their own personal records (unless the requested records are exempted from disclosure), and to seek correction or amendment of federally maintained records that are inaccurate, incomplete, untimely. Privacy Act requests made to TVA allows individuals to gain access to records about yourself, and are filed and can be retrieved by your name or personal identifier (Ex. Social Security Number).

Records About Yourself

The Privacy Act (PA) of 1974 is a Federal law that is set forth in Title 5, Section 552a, of the United States Code (5 U.S.C.552a), as amended. The purpose of the PA is to balance the Government's need to maintain information about individuals with the rights of individuals to be protected against unwarranted invasions of their privacy resulting from the collection, maintenance, use, and disclosure of personal information. In general, the PA allows individuals to learn how the Federal Government collects, maintains, uses, and disseminates records containing personal information. It also safeguards confidentiality by limiting or restricting disclosure of personally identifiable records maintained by Federal agencies. The PA allows individuals to gain access to their own personal records (unless the requested records are exempted from disclosure), and to seek correction or amendment of Federally maintained records that are inaccurate, incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant. As such, the PA establishes a "code of fair information practices," which requires Federal agencies to comply with statutory norms for collecting, maintaining, and disseminating records containing information about individuals.

Under the Privacy Act, you may request copies of any TVA records that:

  • are about you, AND
  • are filed and can be retrieved by your name or by a personal identifier

You can also ask TVA to correct records that are inaccurate, incomplete, untimely, or irrelevant.

In some cases, the Privacy Act may not allow release of your personal records.

Former TVA Employees

Former TVA employees should contact the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to request information on background investigations and personnel records.

How to Make a Privacy Act Request

All Privacy Act requests must be made in writing. There are three basic elements to a request for records under the Privacy Act. First, the letter should state that the request is being made under the Privacy Act. Second, the letter should include the name, address, and signature of the requester. Third, the request should describe the records in as much detail as possible.

You can describe the records by identifying a specific system of records or by describing your contacts or involvement with an agency. If possible, include in your description, information such as the date and place the records were created, file descriptions, subject matter, persons involved, and other pertinent details that will help identify the records.

Pursuant to 10 CFR, § 1008.4 (b) (1) and (b) (2), an individual making a request may establish identity by:

  1. Including with the request, if submitted by mail, a photocopy of two identifying documents bearing name and signature, one of which shall bear current home or business address and date of birth and one of which must include your photograph.
  2. Appearing at the appropriate TVA location during business hours and presenting either of the following:
    • One identifying document bearing the individual’s full name, photograph, and signature; or
    • Two identifying documents bearing the individual’s full name and signature, one of which shall bear their current home or business address and date of birth.
  3. If the individual making the request is unable to produce satisfactory evidence of identity, the individual making the request will be required to submit a notarized statement attesting to his/her identity with an understanding of the criminal penalties provided under section 1001 of title 18 of the United States Code for making false statements to a Government agency and under subsection (i) (3) of the Act for obtaining records under false pretenses.

Include a mailing address and a daytime telephone number so that we can contact you if necessary. Do NOT include your Social Security Number. When submitting your request by mail, please mark the envelope "PRIVACY ACT REQUEST."

Keep a copy of your request in case you need to refer to it in further correspondence with TVA. Due to COVID protocols, please also email [email protected] informing TVA of the PA Request submission.

Where to Request Records

TVA Privacy Officer
400 W. Summit Hill Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37902-1499

Contacts

Andrea Brackett
Senior Agency Official for Privacy

Chris Marsalis
Senior Privacy Program Manager
[email protected]
(865) 632-2467