A local veteran said her request for private information led to a potential security breech for another area veteran.
The two women are concerned the information leak could be part of a bigger issue.
“There’s over 900 pages in this file, including my med board, my injuries, including my status, my dependents,” said Lesa Santiago.
Santiago said the document she had requested arrived just after Thanksgiving. She made the Freedom of Information Act request in early November.
The documents were stored on a disc and on it, she found way more than she requested.
The files on the disc that are not hers belong to another service member, whose name is Brenda Lee.
The woman, who Santiago has never met, is someone she now knows a lot about.
“How many years she’s been in and paydays. You’ve got daytime phone numbers, her street address, her Social (Security number),” Santiago said.
Santiago contacted Lee via text message, with Santiago promising to get rid of and not share the information with anyone else.
Santiago said it was too easy for her to get a stranger’s information, and since the VA has her details, she’s concerned someone else could get them too.
“Now I’m worried,” she said. “If it happened to me, who else (is at risk)?”
Statement from the VA:
VA takes Veteran privacy and the privacy of medical and benefits records
very seriously. When privacy-related events arise and are brought to
VA's attention, an assessment of the risk is conducted and, if
appropriate, notification and provision of credit monitoring is offered
to the individual whose information is involved. Further, concerted
efforts are made to have the misdirected information returned to the
facility.
In addition to establishing strict guidelines, VA requires annual
privacy and information security training of all employees and
contractors, and requires each of VA's users to sign VA's Rules of
Behavior to confirm that they are aware of, and will comply with, the
requirement to safeguard Veteran information as part of their daily
routine. The privacy training further emphasizes that employees must
ensure that they only use the minimum amount of information necessary to
fulfill or complete their VA duties.
Challenges in protecting individual information is shared by VA and both
public and private sectors, and we are continuously striving to better
protect Veteran data.