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Which Air Force instruction covers privacy and civil liberties programs?

AFI 33-332, Air Force Privacy and Civil Liberties Program, covers both programs for the Air Force. It carries out DoDI 5400.11, DoD Privacy and Civil Liberties Programs, which sets the policy for every DoD component. AFI 33-332 is where the Air Force assigns privacy managers, civil liberties points of contact and the rules for handling personal information.

Readers asked this on CheckMyRegs and CheckMyAFI 50 times — this page answers it from the official catalogs and the publications’ own text.

The controlling publication in each branch

BranchControlling publicationDatedSource
Air ForceAFI 33-332 Current
Air Force Privacy and Civil Liberties Program
2020-03-10Official link
DoD-wideDoDI 5400.11 Current
DoD-wide privacy and civil liberties policy
2019-01-29Official link
Publication numbers, dates, and statuses resolve live against each branch’s official catalog every time this page loads — when a service revises its reg, this page follows. Quotes below are extracted verbatim from the official PDFs. Verify the controlling copy before citing it.

What the regulation actually says

Start with AFI 33-332

For an Air Force privacy or civil liberties question, open AFI 33-332 first; it is the one instruction that covers both programs, and base or command supplements only add local detail to it.

DoD policy sits above it

DoDI 5400.11 sets the DoD Privacy and Civil Liberties Programs and has each DoD component designate an official to administer its own privacy and civil liberties programs; for the Air Force, AFI 33-332 is that program.

“d. In consultation with the SCOP, designate DoD Component PCLOs to administer their Component’s privacy and civil liberties programs. e. Ensure DoD personnel and DoD contractors, who have primary responsibility for implementing the DoD Privacy and Civil Liberties Programs, receive appropriate privacy and civil liberties training. Define any such roles and responsibilities in applicable contracts, including privacy, security, and compliance controls contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations.”

Find your privacy office

Each command sets up a Privacy and Civil Liberties Office, and the wing commander appoints an installation Privacy Manager/Monitor and a Civil Liberties point of contact, so that is who to ask first at your base.

“2.8.1. Establish a Privacy and Civil Liberties Office(s) and appoint in writing, a command Privacy Manager/Monitor to execute command responsibilities as outlined in this instruction. The same will apply at installation -level where the Wing Com mander will appoint an installation Privacy Manager/Monitor and Civil Liberties POC and report to their respective command. (T-1).”

Some rules are punitive

Breaking the instruction's mandatory rule on transmitting protected health information is an Article 92 violation for military members, and civilians can be disciplined under DAFI 36-148.

“In addition, the transmission of PHI is restricted, pursuant to guidance in AFMAN 41-210 paragraph 6.16. Failure by military members to obey the mandatory provision in this paragraph is a violation of Article 92(1) of the UCMJ. Civilians who violate information security policy may be disciplined in accordance with DAFI 36-148, Discipline and Adverse Actions of Civilian Employees. (T-0) (MODIFY) 4.4.4. In accordance with 44 USC Β§ 3501, an OMB control number must be requested whenever information is collected from ten or more members of the general public. This requirement may apply to Military or Government civilians whenever information is being collected outside their scope of their duty (See DAFI 33-324). (T-0) (MODIFY) 4.5.1.5. DAF SORN(s) are searchable by number and title and are available at: https://dpcld.defense.gov/privacy/SORNS.aspx (If applicable). (T-0) (DELETE) 4.5.3.”… (paragraph continues in the PDF)

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Updated 2026-10-04. CheckMyRegs is an unofficial index — always cite the official publication.