WASHINGTON - On Tuesday, July 31, the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management will hold a hearing titled State of Federal Privacy and Data Security: Lagging Behind the Times? to examine whether current privacy and data security laws are effectively protecting Americans' personal information.

The Privacy Act was enacted in 1974 to protect Americans from improper disclosure of their personal information by the Federal government. However, the rapid expansion of technology and the lack of adequate updates have rendered the law outdated.

Tuesday's hearing will examine shortcomings in the existing Privacy Act and other related privacy laws when it comes to adequately protecting privacy in the 21st century. Witnesses will discuss whether federal privacy policy should be altered and will explore how Congress can fix our privacy and data security framework. Yesterday, Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) filed an amendment to pending cyber security legislation, Cybersecurity Act of 2012, to help better protect consumers and businesses from identity theft and account fraud. Sen. Carper, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, will attend Tuesday's hearing.

The hearing will also examine the response to the recent cyber attack that led to the unauthorized disclosure of personal information belonging to 123,000 Thrift Savings Plan participants, and discuss ways to avoid such data breaches in the future.