Vet News: VVA Lawsuit Challenges DoD Website that Leaks Private Information About Millions of Veterans, Facilitates Fraud

Today, Vietnam Veterans of America filed a federal lawsuit in order to end the Department of Defense’s systematic violation of veterans’ and servicemembers’ privacy rights. DoD currently operates a website that exposes private details about the military service of millions of veterans to anybody at all, anonymously, for any purpose. The website violates veterans’ rights under the Privacy Act and empowers scammers to perpetrate identity theft, impostor scams, and other frauds.

“Veterans are disproportionately targeted by scammers and identity thieves,” said John Rowan, President of VVA. “DoD is fueling the problem by leaving veterans’ private information easily accessible on the internet,” he added. “DoD has refused to properly secure veterans’ information; we are asking a court to order them to do so.” The case was filed in federal court in Buffalo, NY, by VVA, VVA New York State Council, VVA Chapter 77, and VVA member Thomas Barden.

Mr. Barden, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant, was defrauded by scammers who gained his trust using private details accessible on the DoD website. “We expect the military to protect our private information, not to leave it unsecured,” Mr. Barden said. “The government should not be giving con artists easy access to information they can use to scam veterans like me.”

The DoD website allows anybody to search for an individual’s record simply by inputting a last name and birthdate (or social security number). The website discloses sensitive details including exact dates of active-duty service, future dates of call-up to active duty, and the component in which an individual served.

“Veterans and servicemembers face many challenges when they return home. Many veterans want to control who learns details about their service in order to avoid stereotypes, prejudice or worse,” said Mike Walker, President of VVA Chapter 77, based in Tonawanda, NY. “The government is taking that decision out of veterans’ hands by operating this unsecured online database,” he added.

The site is supposed to be used only by banks and other regulated institutions to verify whether an individual is on active duty and, therefore, entitled to certain legal protections. But DoD does not limit access in any way. DoD does not ask users to identify themselves or to say why they need access.

“The website allows access to veterans’ information on a massive scale,” said Jonathan Manes, supervising attorney at the Civil Liberties and Transparency Clinic of the University at Buffalo School of Law, which represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. “The site receives 2.3 billion queries every year. DoD has no idea how many of those searches are illegitimate.”

Plaintiffs are represented by student attorneys Jessica Gill, Arthur Heberle, and Thora Knight of the UB School of Law under the supervision of Assistant Clinical Professor Manes.