(a) Insofar as the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. 552a) applies to the National Security Council (hereafter NSC), it provides the American public with expanded opportunities to gain access to records maintained by the NSC Staff which may pertain to them as individuals. These regulations are the exclusive means by which individuals may request personally identifiable records and information from the National Security Council.

(b) The NSC Staff, in addition to performing the functions prescribed in the National Security Act of 1947, as amended (50 U.S.C. 401), also serves as the supporting staff to the President in the conduct of foreign affairs. In doing so the NSC Staff is acting not as an agency but as an extension of the White House Office. In that the White House Office is not considered an agency for the purposes of this Act, the materials which are used by NSC Staff personnel in their role as supporting staff to the President are not subject to the provisions of the Privacy Act of 1974. A description of these White House Office files is, nevertheless, appended to the NSC notices of systems of files and will be published annually in the Federal Register.

(c) In general, Records in NSC files pertain to individual members of the public only if these individuals have been (1) employed by the NSC, (2) have corresponded on a foreign policy matter with a member of the NSC or its staff, or (3) have, as a U.S. Government official, participated in an NSC meeting or in the preparation of foreign policy-related documents for the NSC.