Posted on 05/22/2006 10:06:13 AM PDT by areafiftyone
May 22, 2006 — Personal data on about 26.5 million U.S. military veterans was stolen from the residence of a Department of Veterans Affairs data analyst who improperly took the material home, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson said Monday.
The data included names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth for the veterans, Nicholson said, but "there is no indication at this time" that the data had been used for identify theft.
Nicholson said the theft of the data took place this month, but declined to identify the employee or the location of the burglary.
Islamism until demonstrated otherwise.
I have already contacted the bureau's fraud hotline. I get a 90-day alert. To get the 7 year alert, I have to provide a police report. Great! Now I have to wait until someone steals my ID before I can prevent it from being stolen. Or I can buy a credit theft monitoring service with a monthly fee to protect myself.
One lost USB key = one helluva mess
See post #15 for more information:
The VA is working with members of Congress, the news media, veterans service organizations, and other government agencies to help ensure that those veterans and their families are aware of the situation and of the steps they may take to protect themselves from misuse of their personal information.
The VA will send out individual notification letters to veterans to every extent possible. Veterans can also go to www.firstgov.gov as well as www.va.gov/opa to get more information on this matter. The firstgov web site is being set to handle increased web traffic.
Additionally, working with other government agencies, the VA has set up a manned call center that veterans may call to get information about this situation and learn more about consumer identity protections. That toll-free number is 1-800-FED INFO (333-4636). The call center will be open beginning today, and will operate from 8 am to 9 pm (EDT), Monday-Saturday as long as it is needed. The call center will be able to handle up to 20,000 calls per hour (260,000 calls per day).
The solution of course is to put everyone's data, including digital photos and biometric information, into a national database, and preferably to issue National ID cards that broadcast the information. That way, in short order, everyone's info will be in the public domain, and no one will need to steal it anymore...
This sucks. Someone just hijacked my checking account back on April 11th by stealing a check from the mailbox that was being sent to the power company. The had the magnetic ink and the routing number and didn't even have the correct bank or my signature but cashed $7500 worth of counterfeit checks at Wal Marts from here to Springfield, MO. Now I have to worry about my SS# and military record.
Until people decide that the answer "you have no privacy anyhow" isn't good enough, and so they decide that needs to change, it's only gonna keep getting worse.
Wonderful! 26.5 million veterans of Mexican descent were just created!
I am VERY suspect of this for the following reason: (WARNING: any general schedule federal employee taking part in this thread I am about to stereotype you)
In my 22 years of military service - I have met so few general schedule employees that would be so dedicated as to take work home with them that I could count them on one finger....
But, I guess we don't really know he (or she) took it home on purpose, do we. Maybe he was just misappropriating his government issued computer and the data was in it...
Any good lawyers here that want to take the lead on a class action suit???
Veteran ping.
Cr@p. This affects me and my husband.
ping for later
Probably to be sold to make identity theft easier for all those illegals who are rushing in to claim amnesty.
Ditto - same here ... dad was a major in VN - marine pilot.
Jane
found another article on this,including links to official VA statements http://www.thebostonchannel.com/consumer/9254913/detail.html
And you can be sure it contains a whole lot of other personal information, such as medical records, addresses, etc. Simple "identity theft" for the usual purposes is the least of the worries of those whose records have been stolen, because most major credit card companies do not hold their clients responsible for unauthorized purchases. A government computer disk like this was almost certainly stolen from within the government for political purposes, such as reprisals against political foes; and that could mean any FReeper or blogger anywhere who makes posts against any government official.
I can't help but roll my eyes over the choice of words used in the apology.
My records have probably been spread from Shanghai to Mexico City by now.
I'd recommend calling the "call center" (phone number in post #15)and find out how best to protect yourself.
>>>>The solution of course is to put everyone's data, including digital photos and biometric information, into a national database, and preferably to issue National ID cards that broadcast the information. That way, in short order, everyone's info will be in the public domain, and no one will need to steal it anymore...
GIVE A HEADACHE, SELL AN ASPIRIN.
VA To Build Genetic Database
April 25, 2006
The Department of Veterans Affairs soon will ask veterans to volunteer their DNA for a genetic database, the Gainesville Sun reports.
The VA plans in fiscal year 2007 to collect the first 100,000 DNA samples to learn about costs and other practical issues related to launching the database. The database later could expand to millions of VA patients.
Samples would be taken only with permission, according to VA officials, and the department plans to create guidelines for handling a person's genetic profile while using it in research and to identify an individual's risk of health problems, the Sun reports.
VA Secretary Jim Nicholson has established a panel, which includes geneticists, to work on issues regarding the project. "There are so many questions of ethics and privacy that we are not going to proceed down that trail without first assessing the risks and benefits to our veterans," Nicholson said last month in a speech. "But we know from past experience that once we determine that a VA program is in the best interest of our veterans, we move forward with all the resources we can muster."
The NIH, CDC and other research organizations and universities already have created genetic databases for research, but none is as large as what the VA plans to build, several experts said (Reiss, Gainesville Sun, 4/24).
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