Department of Defense hit with lawsuit over lost Tricare data

DoD hit with lawsuit over lost Tricare data
By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Oct 13, 2011 18:09:42 EDT
The Defense Department has been hit by a $4.9 billion class action lawsuit filed on behalf of four military family members and the 4.9 million Tricare beneficiaries whose personal information was contained on tapes stolen from a car in San Antonio in September.

The suit alleges that Tricare “intentionally, willfully and recklessly violated” the privacy rights of the plaintiffs by failing to take precautions to protect their personal information, including Social Security numbers, clinical notes and lab results.

The information disappeared Sept. 13 when backup tapes were stolen from the automobile of an employee of Science Applications International Corp., a defense contractor responsible for transporting them to a facility where they were to be secured.
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