(a) Exemptions. There are three types of exemptions permitted by the Privacy Act:

(1) An access exemption that exempts records complied in reasonable anticipation of a civil action or proceeding from the access provisions of the Act, pursuant to subsection (d)(5) of the Privacy Act;

(2) General exemptions that authorize the exemption of a system of records from all but certain specifically identified provisions of the Act, pursuant to subsection (j) of the Privacy Act; and

(3) Specific exemptions that allow a system of records to be exempted only from certain designated provisions of the Act, pursuant to subsection (k) of the Privacy Act. Nothing in the Privacy Act permits exemption of any system of records from all provisions of the Act.

(b) Civil Action or Proceeding. In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552a(d)(5), an individual is not entitled to access information that is compiled in reasonable anticipation of a civil action or proceeding. The term “civil action or proceeding” is intended to include court proceedings, preliminary judicial steps, and quasi-judicial administrative hearings or proceedings (i.e., adversarial proceedings that are subject to rules of evidence). Any information prepared in anticipation of such actions or proceedings, including information prepared to advise DoD officials of the possible legal or other consequences of a given course of action, is protected. The exemption is similar to the attorney work-product privilege except that it applies even when the information is prepared by non-attorneys. The exemption does not apply to information compiled in anticipation of criminal actions or proceedings.

(c) Exempt Records Systems. Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552a(k)(1), all systems of records maintained by DoD will be exempt from the access provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552a(d) and the notification of access procedures of 5 U.S.C. 522a(e)(4)(H) to the extent that the system contains any information properly classified under Executive Order 13526, and is required by the Executive Order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy. This exemption, which may be applicable to parts of all DoD systems of records, is necessary because certain record systems not otherwise specifically designated for exemptions herein may contain isolated items of information which have been properly classified.

(d) Exempt records in non-exempt systems. Exempt records temporarily in the custody of another DoD Component are considered the property of the originating DoD Component. Access to these records is controlled by the system notices and rules of the originating DoD Component. Exempt records that have been incorporated into a nonexempt system of records are still exempt but only to the extent to which the provisions of the Act for which an exemption has been claimed are identified. An exemption claimed for the system of records from which the record is obtained remains in effect when the purposes underlying the exemption for the record are still valid and necessary to protect the contents of the record. If a record is accidentally misfiled into a system of records, the system notice and rules for the system in which it should actually be filed shall govern.