[Med-privacy] DATA SECURITY BREACH DISCLOSES VETERANS' MEDICAL INFORMATION

[Peter Marshall]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Paul Feldman
May 24, 2006
202.721.5614 (o)
202.904.0899 (c)
pfeldman@healthprivacy.org


DATA SECURITY BREACH DISCLOSES VETERANS' MEDICAL INFORMATION
  Disability ratings stolen along with names and Social Security numbers

  (Washington, DC) The names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and 
disability ratings in some cases of as many as 26.5 million veterans 
were stolen recently from the home of a Department of Veterans Affairs 
employee. This theft represents the biggest unauthorized disclosure of 
Social Security data ever.

"Millions of U.S. veterans may now suffer the aftermath of this serious 
and unauthorized disclosure of medical and other highly sensitive 
personal information, all because the Veterans Administration did not 
take steps adequate to ensure its security," according to Paul Feldman, 
Deputy Director of the Health Privacy Project. "It is completely 
unacceptable for the VA to have a system in place which makes possible 
employees taking personal information home in briefcases or laptop 
computers."

The VA Inspector General is very critical of the department for its lax 
information security and emphasizes that the employee was not 
authorized to remove such sensitive material.

"Our personal medical information must be safeguarded, especially by 
the federal government itself," continues Feldman. "What can Americans 
expect with respect to medical privacy if our government cannot ensure 
the security of our most personal information? This is a crushing blow 
to much-needed efforts to establish safe and secure electronic health 
information systems. American consumers deserve better, and Congress 
should use this unfortunate event as a wake-up call to be vigilant to 
protect the security and privacy of medical and other personal 
information."

The Health Privacy Project is dedicated to raising public awareness of 
the importance of ensuring health privacy in order to improve health 
care access and quality, both on an individual and a community level. 
Founded in 1997 by Janlori Goldman, Director, the Health Privacy 
Project provides a broad array of healthcare stakeholders with the 
information and tools they need to work more effectively toward greater 
protection of health information through cutting-edge research studies, 
policy analyses, Congressional testimony, extensive work with the 
media, and a Web site Visit http://healthprivacy.org to learn more.

1120 19th Street, NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20036
  202-721-5614 (Tel) * 202-530-0128 (Fax) * www.healthprivacy.org

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