Department of Veterans Affairs reports data leak caused by printing error
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The Department of Veterans Affairs is reporting a data leak incident affecting veterans at six medical centers, including the Truman VA Medical Center in Columbia. The leak occurred due to an error in their appointment notification system, potentially exposing patient information.
The incident stemmed from a printing error that occurred on November 18, 2024, where appointment notification postcards were incorrectly matched with recipient addresses. The error occurred in an application that converts electronic health records into printed postcards, resulting in veterans receiving appointment information intended for other patients.
According to the VA Heartland Network's investigation, the incident affected 211 veterans who received services at the Truman VA facility. The exposed data includes:
- Patient names
- Appointment scheduling information
- Appointment reminders
The VA claims that no Social Security numbers or other sensitive identifying information was included in the compromised data. The total number of veterans affected across all six medical centers is not disclosed. If we extrapolate a similar number per each center, the number of affected individuals is approximately 1200.
The VA is sending notification letters to all affected veterans.
