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Vets' mess All That Data? See Ya Later!By Rick Horowitz
Dear Veteran:
We are writing to inform you of a situation that may be of interest to you. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has recently learned that a departmental employee, in violation of established VA policies, recently removed a considerable amount of electronic data from his office to his home. This employee's home was subsequently burglarized, and this data was stolen. The data in question contained so-called "identifying information," including names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers for as many as 26.5 million veterans and some spouses, as well as disability ratings and diagnostic codes for some of these veterans. Boy, are our faces red! As a result of this incident, certain information identifiable with you may have become available to others. While we have no evidence at this point that any veteran's personal data has in fact been compromised, we felt it important to alert you to the possibility that this might have occurred, or that it might occur at some point in the future. Needless to say, because of the sensitivity of the data in question, the VA's first response on learning of this incident was to keep the FBI totally in the dark for two weeks while we attempted to sort things out on our own. That effort went about as well as you'd imagine, and the data thief or thieves now have a two-week lead on federal and state law-enforcement agencies. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs, R. James Nicholson, was likewise kept completely uninformed about this incident during much of that same period. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We regret any inconvenience or uncertainty this situation may cause you. The VA takes its responsibility to our nation's veterans and their families very seriously, and the last thing we want is for any of our veterans to find their identities compromised, their credit ratings destroyed, and their financial affairs in tatters. The next-to-last thing we want is to lose our jobs over it. The VA is working with all appropriate agencies to get to the bottom of this unfortunate incident. In the meantime, we urge you and your families to take whatever steps you consider prudent to protect yourselves from, or to become aware of, any misuse of your personal data. These steps might include, but are not limited to, the following: 1) Notify financial institutions with which you have any dealings of the increased potential for identity theft; 2) Make frequent inquiries of consumer credit-reporting agencies such as Equifax, Experian and TransUnion to monitor any suspicious credit-card activity occurring in your name; 3) Stick all your money under a really good mattress. Veterans and their families are invited to go to www.messedup.gov for additional suggestions, or to call our toll-free hotline at 1-800-YOU-LOSE. While we will do all we can to keep you apprised of further developments, be aware that we don't know all 26.5 million of you personally, and we are shy with strangers. In the meantime,
the VA is mindful of the extra effort and expense that may be required
of those of you whose personal data has been put at risk by this incident.
You were not at fault, and there is no reason you should have to bear
this burden alone. Accordingly, the VA is pleased to include with each
copy of this letter a free ten-minute calling card. Accept this card
with our deepest apologies, and with the thanks of a grateful nation.
(Certain holiday restrictions apply.) Sincerely, Posted 5/25/06. Tell
the neighbors: award-winning commentary from syndicated columnist Rick
Horowitz!
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Rick Horowitz
