Veterans Sue VA over Data Loss

WASHINGTON—Claiming that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs "flagrantly disregarded the privacy rights of essentially every man or woman to have worn a United States military uniform," veterans groups filed a massive class-action lawsuit June 6 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The lawsuit, which comes days after the VA reported that the personal information of 26.5 million veterans was stolen from an employee's home, seeks damages of $1,000 for every person listed in the missing database files.

The suit also asks that the courts prohibit the VA from handling any personal privacy-protected data except under court supervision, and that the court create a set of "consensus minimal security standards" under which the VA can operate.