A debacle at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) information technology center in Austin, Texas reminds us how important it is to keep a copy of any document sent to the VA.
On May 24, “human error” at the information technology center resulted in the accidental deletion of 464,000 electronic data files that contained information about home loans. These records included loans, grants and applications. While some of these deleted files were recovered (approximately half of the files from March 18th to April 24), all files from the online application program from April 25 to May 24 could not be recovered.
In addressing how it will respond to the incident, the VA said that staff will be retrained to help prevent a future similar occurrence. Also, lenders, appraisers, and staff appraisal reviewers have been asked to resubmit appraisals for pending loan closings.
Fortunately, no personal identifying information was released or compromised by this incident. (Not to sound cheeky, but if anything, it was destroyed!).
In my opinion, there are two main takeaway points from this incident. The first is that in dealing with the VA, even through an electronic system, human beings are involved. And with human involvement, there is the room for human error. A wrong number can be inputted, a name misspelled, or a file deleted. Or, in this case, 464,000 files. (No one expects the VA to be perfect, but I wonder if in the near future the VA will offer an explanation for what kind of “human error” results in the accidental deletion of nearly half a million files.)
The second takeaway point is to always, always, always keep copies of everything sent to the VA. This is true for disability compensation claims (and request delivery confirmation, too!), and it’s true for other correspondence and filings as well. Sure, veterans should be able to rely on the fact that once their letter goes in the mail, or they click “save” or “submit” at their computer, their information is safe, but that’s not always the case. The system isn’t perfect, and this is one such illustration.
This level of incompetence is kind of scary and why I keep a copy of everything!!!