DVA releases your PII…again
According to Stars & Stripes, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs released the Personal Identifiable Information (PII) to the folks at Ancestry.com who promptly posted it to the internet;
VA officials supplied the information to Ancestry.com in March 2011 as part of a Freedom of Information Act request by the genealogy site. The records were supposed to only contain information on deceased veterans, but also included more than 2,200 living veterans due to a department error.
Department officials found out about the error just last month.
Yet, here we are, this month, just finding out that the information was released 10 months ago. So how do they know that the PII hasn’t been used by criminals? Of course, the article is written like it’s Ancestry.com’s fault, but clearly the VA is playing fast and loose with our PII. There’s absolutely no reason that Ancestry.com would need that type of information, yet there it is posted on the internet.
Every fucking time I turn around, I’m getting classes on how to handle PII and how to avoid that information getting into the wrong hands. So wtf is happening at the VA?
Officials said they are still investigating why the information was mistakenly included in the records released to Ancestry.com.
Um, because they’re all incompetent boobs and they don’t care? And the rot starts at the top.
Individuals who believe they may have been affected by this incident have been encouraged to contact the VA. Those whose information was exposed will be eligible for a free credit report for one year.
Yeah, thanks. Actually, the first time (how many times have there been?) the VA lost my PII, I subscribed to LifeLock and just pay it myself every year because by the time the VA tells us about the breaches, it’s probably too late.
Category: Veterans' Affairs Department
I’m shocked, you mean an agency of our federal govt made a mistake? The VA? I’m shocked. (Not really).
I’m already losing all of this year’s tax return because someone got student loans from three universities in the same semester and I cosigned for them… even though I have my own student loans to deal with…
Thanks VA! Another bureaucracy that works for the Vets… oh, wait… another bureaucracy that works against the Vets.
When I can look up on the internet and find my dead grandmother’s SSN because she’s dead and it’s public information for “legitmate” businesses to verify that SSN is of a deceased person, yet turn around and hear about every doofus having free access to this information to vote, get credit cards, and buy cars…you know the FOIA is BS to begin with. Nobody should be privy to that information, dead or otherwise, unless it’s a family member. There’s a reason why I protect my family’s private information and shitheads like Ancestry.com make it available to any fool willing to pay for it, an organized scam to screw over the masses it what it is.
I was hired as a GS by the VA to help create processes and functions to prevent this crap. Then I was denied employment by HR because I met all of the stated requirements, and was already doing that same job for the Army at twice the money.
If the VA’s HR is too stupid to breathe, likely the rest of its IT employees aren’t much smarter.