Search Privacy Violations, Breaches and Complaints
This database was last updated in December 2015 ago and should only be used as a historical snapshot. More recent data on breaches affecting 500 or more people is available at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Breach Portal.
VA Heartland Network (VISN 15)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on January 28, 2011. Also cited in 149 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000057627, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 15 Marion, IL
Issue:
Veteran A received an appointment letter in the mail, which contained Veteran B's and Veteran C's full name, full SSN, and home telephone numbers. The investigation revealed that the letter had been printed on "recycled" paper, which was thought to be blank. This writer contacted Veteran A to apologize for the error and to gather complete details of the incident. The Veteran, who was enroute home during our conversation, was asked to destroy the portion of the letter containing Veteran B and Veteran C's information. The Veteran stated that the top portion of the letter will be "shredded." Update: 01/31/11 The letter itself contained only appointment information, such as dates/times/locations. It did not contain any PHI. The backside of the letter contained Veteran B and C's full name, full SSN, and telephone number. Veteran B and Veteran C will receive a letter offering credit protection services. 02/02/11: An appeal was filed requesting that Veteran A also be provided with credit protection services since there is no way of knowing if his data was compromised. The DBCT reviewed and denied the appeal based on the fact that we only have the authority to provide credit protection for individuals whose data was compromised or potentially compromised. Unless there was a high probability that Veteran A's data was on the 'recycled" paper, we cannot offer credit protection services.
Outcome:
The following corrective actions have been taken: 1. Service Chief sent message to all staff under his direction, instructing them to cease recycling paper. 2. Printer settings were changed to prevent "wasting" of paper (two blank papers of paper printed out with each letter, prior to this reconfiguration).