privacy data-ownership
Right to Records
<p>I know in the UK, there is a law that allows you to request all records about <em>you</em> from any institution, public or <strong>private</strong>, including private and publicly traded companies.  Does anyone know if anything similar exists in the United States?</p>

<p>In the US, there's a well-known law called Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which is actually a federal law that only applies to the federal government; however, most states have a likewise variation of the law that similarly applies to the state government, too.</p>

<p>As far as private companies are concerned, there are some laws that target specific industries, for example, Credit Reporting Agencies are required to provide you with information contained in your Credit Report (they're allowed to charge a small fee for each such request, unless you meet some criteria for free access, like denial of credit), and you also have a right to dispute any incorrectly-reported information.</p>

<p>In the US, I don't think there is any broad law that applies to any information on you held by any private company, however, in this digital world and when dealing with the internet-based companies, most concerned citizens would probably get away with making it seem as if they're from Europe, and requesting such information anyways.</p>
