VA's Accidental Ancestry Record Release

The Veterans Affairs Department said it accidentally released the records of 2,200 living veterans to Ancestry.com in response to a Freedom of Information Act request last month, a data dump that included social security numbers.

The family history website, which provides access to genealogical and historical information, had requested information from VA about deceased veterans, but VA also provided information about living veterans. The department said it learned on Dec. 13, 2011, Ancestry.com had posted the data on both dead and living veterans on its website.

VA said that under FOIA, it was obligated to provide the website with the name, social security number, date of birth and date of death of deceased veterans.

Department officials are trying to determine why information about living veterans was included in the database for deceased veterans.

I have a personal note for VA Chief Information Officer Roger Baker regarding this foul-up: Roger, I'm still alive.