Pentagon exempts spy inspector records from privacy law — first time since 1974

The Defense Department is carving out an exception to the Privacy Act so its internal investigators can keep criminal records secret without having to tell people they're being investigated. In practice, this means people under investigation by military intelligence won't know their files exist, won't be able to see what's in them, and won't be able to correct false information.

The Privacy Act was written in 1974 specifically to prevent secret government files from existing without public knowledge. This exemption punches a hole in that protection for one of the most powerful investigative agencies in the US — one that operates in a legal gray zone where normal civilian oversight is weak. The timing matters: the DoD is doing this through a proposed rule, which means it's announcing the change now but the exemption may already be operating in practice.