Episode 8 - DVA Data Breach

In this episode, we discuss a pressing issue surrounding data breaches involving the Australian Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), the University of South Australia, and the DVA MATES Program. Our aim is to inform you, our audience, about these breaches and the steps you can take to safeguard your privacy and request information.

We believe it's crucial for all of us to exercise our right to submit Freedom of Information Requests to the Department of Veterans Affairs. This enables us to gain access to information about our files and cases, in most cases, within 30 days of submission.

Here are the key points we address in this episode:

• We delve into the data breaches, which involve the monthly forwarding of personal details and medical history by DVA to a university in South Australia.
• We share our concern over the privacy commissioner's disagreement with DVA regarding the handling of private information.
• We highlight the six-year struggle of a veteran who fought to stop DVA from sharing personal information without obtaining consent.
• We express our concerns about potential implications and issues arising from data sharing with non-clinical researchers.
• We report that DVA suspended the program after a complaint was filed with the University of South Australia's human ethics committee.
• We underscore our concerns regarding the security of the data set that DVA shared with the university.
• We provide you with clear instructions on how to opt out of the program and request the deletion of your information.
• We share contact details for ethics committees at both the University of South Australia and DVA.
• We encourage you to file complaints with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner if your requests are met with refusal.

We want you to be aware that signing a claim form or using a DVA card did not imply consent for data sharing, and we believe this is a breach of your privacy.

Post about the Breach on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/AustralianMilitary/comments/167tpwg/more_info_on_dvaunisa_breach/

Veterans’ MATES Program Official Page at DVA: https://www.dva.gov.au/get-support/providers/health-programs-and-services-our-clients/medicines/veterans-mates

Veterans’ MATES Official Site: https://www.veteransmates.net.au/

FOIA Overview: https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/overview/reporting/freedom-information

D8601 – FOI Application Form: https://www.dva.gov.au/about-us/dva-forms/information-access-application-form

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: https://www.oaic.gov.au/

Opt-Out by emailing privacy.enquiries@dva.gov.au

You can ask uni SA to delete information they have received by emailing mates.comments@unisa.edu.au 

Ethics Committees are: humanethics@unisa.edu.au and DVA ethics committee ddva.hrec@defence.gov.au

You can also ask Uni SA to tell you who they shared your data with at mates.comments@unisa.edu.au and tell them to advise those universities that they must destroy any of the data they have received without consent.

DVA Privacy Breach Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/281742451252436