![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/vadata.jpg\")
WASHINGTON (AP) – Personal data on more than 2.2 million
\n active-duty military personnel – not just 50,000 as initially believed
\n – were among those stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee last month,
\n the government said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said the agency was mistaken when it said over
\n the weekend that up to 50,000 Navy and National Guard personnel – and no
\n other active-duty personnel – were affected by the May 3 burglary.<\/p>\n
In fact, names, birth dates and Social Security numbers of as many as 1.1
\n million active-duty personnel from all the armed forces, along with 430,000
\n members of the National Guard, and 645,000 members of the Reserves, may
\n have been included.<\/p>\n
Can you imaging coming home from Iraq and discovering Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, "This confirms the VFW’s worst fear from day one – that the loss The VA initially assumed its data would only include veterans, but upon The lawsuit filed Tuesday demands that the VA fully disclose which military At the very least they should guarentee the credit And they wonder why they are having trouble meeting from AP<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WASHINGTON (AP) – Personal data on more than 2.2 million active-duty military personnel – not just 50,000 as initially believed – were among those stolen from a Veterans Affairs employee last month, the government said Tuesday. VA Secretary Jim Nicholson … Continue reading
\n that you’re in six figures of debt and have no credit anywhere? These
\n guys – active duty service men and women – are probably primo ID theft
\n material, as they have steady work and aren’t around to promptly investigate
\n felonious use of their credit.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n said the VA must come clean after three weeks of "this debacle."<\/p>\n
\n of data encompasses every single person who did wear the uniform and
\n does wear
\n the uniform today," he said.
\n In the VA statement, Nicholson said the total number of military personnel
\n affected by the theft – 26.5 million – remains unchanged.<\/p>\n
\n closer investigation it realized it had records for active-duty personnel
\n because they are eligible to receive certain VA benefits such as GI Bill
\n educational assistance and the home loan guarantee program.<\/p>\n
\n personnel are affected by the data theft and seeks $1,000 in damages
\n for each person – up to $26.5 billion total. The veterans are also seeking
\n a court order barring VA employees from using sensitive data until independent
\n experts determine proper safeguards.<\/p>\n
\n of service men and women who become victims of identity theft as a
\n result
\n of this outrage. And set up an office well-staffed with hundred of lawyers
\n to help the soldiers and vets sort out this mess. From what we hear,
\n being the victim of identity theft can cost thousands of dollars, take
\n years and require hundreds of hours of work to recover from. That even
\n one member of veteran or the Armed Services should suffer this as a result
\n of government negligence is intolerable and shameful.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n their recruiting targets…<\/em><\/p>\n