Guidance

This guidance focuses especially on the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Amendments of 1990, which alter the due process provisions of the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988. The guidance…

An Act to enhance the management and promotion of electronic government services and processes by establishing a Federal Chief Information Officer within the Office of Management and Budget, and by establishing a…

The United States Department of Justice Guide to the Freedom of Information Act is a comprehensive legal treatise on the FOIA. The Guide includes detailed discussions of the FOIA’s procedural requirements, nine…

Federal Information Processing Standards publication by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that contains standards for the categorization of federal information systems.

The Federal Data Strategy was established by OMB Memorandum M-19-18 and sets out a mission, 10 Principles, 40 Practices, and annual Action Plans for federal data management. This page collects its documents…

The Federal Data Strategy provides a common set of data principles and best practices in implementing data innovations that drive more value for the public. Annual Federal Data Strategy action plans identify…

How the Federal Data Strategy was created, including the Cross-Agency Priority Goal that started it, the public comment process behind the Principles and Practices, and the development of the 2020 Action Plan.…

The 40 Practices of the Federal Data Strategy, organized into three categories covering data culture, data governance, and data use. Migrated from strategy.data.gov.

The 10 Principles of the Federal Data Strategy, grouped under Ethical Governance, Conscious Design, and Learning Culture. Migrated from strategy.data.gov.

These guidelines implement the provisions of the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act of 1988. This Act amends the Privacy Act of 1974 to establish procedural safeguards affecting agencies' use of Privacy…

This report outlines the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Advisory Committee's recommendations and best practices for the administration of FOIA. Dated April 17, 2018.

The text of H.R.4174 - Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, known as the Evidence Act. Title II of the Evidence Act (OPEN Government Data Act) describes the requirements for CDOs,…

Office of the Attorney General memo that issues guidelines for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Dated March 19, 2009.

The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) requires agencies to submit requests to collect information from the public to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. This guidance is designed…

Pursuant to its responsibilities under section 6 of the Privacy Act of 1974, OMB developed guidance on how the recordkeeping provisions of that Act affect agencies' programs (so-called "call detail programs") to…

Provides policy and procedural guidance to Federal agencies for ensuring and maximizing the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information (including statistical information) disseminated by Federal agencies. Dated February 22, 2002.

The purpose of the CIPSEA implementation guidance is to inform agencies about the requirements for using CIPSEA and to clarify the circumstances under which CIPSEA can be used. Dated June 15, 2007.…

This material is provided to address comments and questions of general interest raised in response to OMB's guidelines for implementing of section 3 of the Privacy Act of 1974. Dated November 21,…

Provides a model Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) for agencies to use when preparing an adapted PIA before engaging the public through third-party websites and applications. The introduction to the model PIA provides…

This bulletin establishes revised delineations for the Nation's Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas. The bulletin also provides delineations of Metropolitan Divisions as well as delineations of New…

This Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular describes agency responsibilities for implementing the review, reporting, and publication requirements of the Privacy Act of 1974 (“the Privacy Act”), and related OMB policies.…

Office of Management and Budget circular that directs agencies to use standards developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies rather than government-unique standards, except where inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise…

Provides guidance on preparing the Budget and instructions on budget execution.

This Circular defines management’s responsibilities for enterprise risk management (ERM) and internal control. The Circular provides updated implementation guidance to Federal managers to improve accountability and effectiveness of Federal programs as well…

Pursuant to OMB Circular No. A-123, agencies are required to manage risk in relation to achievement of reporting objectives. Prior to this update, Appendix A was prescriptive and rigorous in what agencies…

The goal of this revised version of OMB Circular A-123 's Appendix C is to transform the improper payment compliance framework to create a more unified, comprehensive, and less burdensome set of…

Office of Management and Budget circular that establishes general policy for the planning, budgeting, governance, acquisition, and management of Federal information, personnel, equipment, funds, IT resources and supporting infrastructure and services. Dated…

This Circular provides direction for federal agencies that produce, maintain or use spatial data either directly or indirectly in the fulfillment of their mission. This Circular establishes a coordinated approach to electronically…

This revised circular supersedes Circular A-89, dated December 31, 1970. It provides the basis for a systematic and periodic collection and uniform submission of information on all federally financed domestic assistance programs…

Issues guidance to remind agencies of several privacy-related legal requirements that apply to computer matching and to clarify how agencies should conduct computer matching activities. Dated December 20, 2000.

Emphasizes the need to keep confidential the Executive Branch's internal deliberations regarding the various issues and options that were considered in the process leading to the President's budget decisions. Dated April 25,…

Provides information to agencies on implementing the privacy provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002. Dated September 26, 2003.

Allocates responsibilities for ensuring the appropriate uniformity, centralization, efficiency, effectiveness, timeliness, and reciprocity of determining eligibility for access to classified national security information. Dated June 30, 2005.

This memorandum identifies procedures to organize and categorize information and make it searchable across agencies to improve public access and dissemination, discusses using the Federal Enterprise Architecture Data Reference Model (DRM), and…

On December 14, 2005, the President issued Executive Order 13392, “Improving Agency Disclosure of Information.” In the order, the President directed agencies to ensure citizen-centered and results-oriented Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)…

To assist agencies and ensure consistency across the government, OMB asks selected executive departments and agencies to designate a senior agency official who has agency-wide responsibility, accountability, and authority for geospatial information…

Follow-up memo to M-06-04, “Implementation of the President’s Executive Order ‘Improving Agency Disclosure of Information’”. In that memorandum, the Deputy Director summarized the Order’s requirements and highlighted its upcoming deadlines for agency…

Provides a checklist from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for protection of remote information. The intent of implementing the checklist is to compensate for the lack of physical security…

Directs agencies to ensure that reported small business contracts and related contract actions were actually awarded to small businesses. Each Department and agency is responsible for submitting accurate data to FPDS and…

Provides guidance on information collection for earmark reform. Dated January 25, 2007.

This Memorandum establishes new procedures and provides updated guidance and requirements for agency use of web measurement and customization technologies. The central goal is to respect and safeguard the privacy of the…

This Memorandum requires Federal agencies to take specific steps to protect individual privacy whenever they use third-party websites and applications to engage with the public. Dated June 25, 2010.

This memorandum provides policy direction regarding development of agency IT investment baseline management policies and defines a common structure for IT investment baseline management policy with the goal of improving transparency, performance…

Office of Management and Budget memo that encourages Federal agencies to engage in coordinated, collaborated data-sharing in a manner that complies with applicable privacy laws, regulations, and polices. Dated November 3, 2010.…

Provides a list of existing requirements and questions department or agency assessment teams should utilize, as an initial step, to assess the current state of information systems security. Dated January 3, 2011.…

To help agencies move forward in harnessing evidence and evaluation, this memorandum (1) provides guidance for 2015 agency Budget submissions and (2) invites agencies to participate in a series of workshops and…

This memorandum provides agencies with guidance for managing information security risk on a continuous basis and builds upon efforts towards achieving the cybersecurity Cross-Agency Priority goal. Dated November 18, 2013.

To encourage the greater use of administrative data for statistical purposes, this Memorandum provides agencies with guidance for addressing the legal, policy, and operational issues that exist with respect to using administrative…

This Memorandum provides guidance to Federal agencies on current reporting requirements pursuant to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) as well as new requirements that agencies must employ pursuant to…

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide implementation guidance for the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA) and related information technology (IT) management practices. Dated June 10, 2015.

This memorandum strongly encourages the Federal statistical agencies and units, and their parent Departments, to build interagency collaboration that will help the Federal statistical community more effectively meet the information needs of…

This memorandum addresses challenges in information technology (IT) category management, and specifically software licensing, in order to help agencies improve the acquisition and management of common IT goods and services. The focus…

This memorandum addresses challenges in information technology (IT) category management, and specifically software licensing, in order to help agencies improve the acquisition and management of common IT goods and services. This memorandum…

This memorandum is the third in a series of policies directing covered agencies to improve their Information Technology (IT) commodity management practices. Dated August 4, 2016.

This Memorandum revises policies on the role and designation of a Senior Agency Official for Privacy. Dated September 15, 2016.

This Memorandum provides additional guidance to Federal agencies to support the technical operationalization of reporting to USASpending.gov in accordance with the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of20062 (FFATA), as amended by…

Federal websites and digital services should always meet and maintain high standards of effectiveness and usability and provide quality information that is readily accessible to all. The requirements in this Memorandum support…

This Memorandum contains general guidance for the planning, identification, categorization, prioritization, reporting, assessment, and remediation of Federal High Value Assets (HVAs), as well as the handling of information related to HVAs by…

This Memorandum sets forth the policy for Federal agencies to prepare for and respond to a breach of personally identifiable information (PII). It includes a framework for assessing and mitigating the risk…

This memorandum provides agencies with fiscal year (FY) 2019 reporting guidance and deadlines in accordance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA). This memorandum also consolidates several government-wide reporting…

This memorandum provides guidance on the enhancement of the High Value Asset (HVA) program operated by the Department ofHomeland Security (DHS), in coordination with the Office ofManagement and Budget (OMB). Dated December…

One of the principal improvements in the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 was the requirement to create a central, online request portal that allows a member of the public to submit a…

The purpose of this Memorandum is to reinforce, clarify, and interpret agency responsibilities with regard to responsibilities under the Information Quality Act (IQA). Dated April 24, 2019.

This memorandum sets forth the Federal Government's Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM) policy. Dated May 21, 2019.

This memorandum establishes a Federal Data Strategy (Strategy) as a framework of operational principles and best practices that help agencies deliver on the promise of data in the 21st century. Through consistent…

This Memorandum contains requirements for the consolidation and optimization of Federal data centers in accordance with FITARA. It establishes consolidation and optimization targets and metrics for Federal agencies, as well as requirements…

Office of Management and Budget memo that outlines action steps to meeting the requirements of the Evidence Act. Dated July 10, 2019.

This Memorandum provides guidance to CFO Act agencies necessary to meet certain requirements of the Evidence Act, including program evaluation standards to guide agencies in developing and implementing evaluation activities, evaluation policies,…

This memorandum provides instructions to agencies on how to comply with the President's Memorandum of May 14, 1998 on "Privacy and Personal Information in Federal Records." In this Memorandum, the President directed…

Every Federal web site must include a privacy policy statement, even if the site does not collect any information that results in creating a Privacy Act record. This attachment provides guidance and…

OMB M23-22 Delivering a Digital First Public Experience, otherwise known as 21st Century IDEA, was a bipartisan act signed into law in December 2018. In September 2023, the Office of Management and…

This memorandum provides recommendations for planning and responding to data breaches which could result in identify theft. Dated September 20, 2006.

Office of Management and Budget memo that established a framework to help institutionalize the principles of effective information management at each stage of the information's life cycle to promote interoperability and openness.…

Provides a schedule of release dates for principal Federal economic indicators for 2019.

Announces OMB's final decision for the 2018 revision of Statistical Policy Directive No. 10, Standard Occupational Classification (SOC). Dated November 28, 2017.

Announces OMB's decision concerning the revision of Statistical Policy Directive No. 15, Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting. Accepts the recommendations of the Interagency Committee for the Review…

This Directive affirms the fundamental responsibilities of Federal statistical agencies and recognized statistical units in the design, collection, processing, editing, compilation, storage, analysis, release, and dissemination of statistical information. Dated December 2,…

This Addendum provides Standards and Guidelines for Conducting Cognitive Interviews. Dated October 12, 2016.

As part of an ongoing effort to improve the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information collected and disseminated by the Federal Government, OMB is issuing revised Standards and Guidelines for Statistical…

The revised directive clarifies and strengthens OMB guidance to Federal agencies on the compilation and release of principal economic indicators.

Issues a new Statistical Policy Directive for the release and dissemination of statistical products produced by Federal statistical agencies. Dated March 7, 2008.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a system for classifying establishments (individual business locations) by type of economic activity. This announces OMB's adoption of NAICS revisions. Dated August 8, 2016.…