The White House is ordering federal agencies to significantly raise the level of protection afforded to personal data they keep and use. Joshua Bolten, director of the Office of Management and Budget, issued a memorandum last week instructing agency heads to conduct new privacy-impact assessments before developing IT systems that contain identifiable information or before collecting such data electronically. The assessments must be updated when changes in the way an agency handles personally identifiable information create new privacy risks. Under the rules, agencies will be required to tell visitors to their Web sites when it's voluntary to submit information, how to grant consent for agency use of voluntary personal data, and about their rights under the Privacy Act and other such laws. Agency Web sites also will be required to disclose the nature of information collected, the purpose and use of such data, whether and with whom such information will be shared, and the privacy safeguards applied to the information collected.