Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act: Data Integration and Individual Rights

"Computers and information technologies have increased the amount of data that can be collected, stored, and processed. Computers make it easier to exchange, share, and match data on individuals across programmatic and agency boundaries, enabling the use of that data for various executive branch operations.

The Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (CMPPA) provides the requirements and processes by which agencies may, for certain purposes, conduct a matching program using individuals’ data. Congress passed the CMPPA to increase the administrative controls and oversight of matching programs. The CMPPA amended provisions enacted by the Privacy Act of 1974 and operates within the Privacy Act’s statutory framework.

The CMPPA covers how agencies may conduct a computerized comparison of automated records to administer federal benefit programs or to use federal personnel and payroll records. A matching program may involve two or more federal agencies or a federal agency and a state or local government agency.

Matching programs are used throughout the executive branch at agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Communications Commission, the Small Business Administration, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of the Treasury. A matching program may exchange and compare any number of records, and some match millions of records. 

The CMPPA establishes a number of requirements for agencies conducting matching programs. These requirements include the execution of written matching agreements that contain a number of specifics on the conduct of matching programs, costbenefit analyses of matching programs and documentation of specific savings, and the establishment of a Data Integrity Board (DIB) within each federal agency that conducts or participates in a matching program to approve matching agreements and oversee matching programs. Matching agreements are to be available to the public and may be published on an agency’s website. An agency’s DIB is required to submit to the agency head and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) an annual report that describes the agency’s matching activities.."
Computer Matching and Privacy