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 Mid South Healthcare Network (VISN 9)
Mentioned in a privacy incident report created by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on March 13, 2012. Also cited in 328 other reports.
Report ID: SPE000000072769, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Reported Entity: VISN 09 Huntington, WV
Issue:
An employee discovered documents containing personally identifiable information (PII) on 6 individuals in a public restroom late yesterday. As of yet, the Privacy Officer (PO) has been unable to determine who left the documents there or how long they were there. The employee secured the documents in her office and gave them to the PO this morning. Update: 03/13/12:After review of all the documents, the PO discovered that there were a total of 8 individuals whose full SSNs were in the documents. There was also one document on a patient that had his name, address and last four digits of the SSN. Finally, there was one sealed envelope with only the name and address of an individual. The 8 Veterans will be sent letters offering credit protection services due to full name and full SSN being exposed and the individuals whose name and address were exposed will receive letters of notification.
Outcome:
Employee responsible reminded of the need for caution when handling documents with PII.