VA DATA Access Transparency and Accountability Act of 2025
The VA DATA Access Transparency and Accountability Act of 2025 would tighten how veterans’ personal information is accessed and used by two government entities: the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the United States DOGE Service (Department of Government Efficiency). Specifically, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs would be barred from providing DOGE with access to veterans’ data, and special Government employees (SGEs) would be prohibited from accessing or exfiltrating veterans’ data for commercial purposes or for any non-governmental reason not authorized by the Secretary. If an SGE gains access to VA systems containing veteran data, the bill requires the Secretary to ensure the data is returned and not retained after the service ends. The bill also defines key terms to clarify scope, including what counts as “veteran’s data,” “personal health information,” and “personal identifying information.” In short, the bill strengthens privacy protections for veterans by limiting interagency data access and restricting how SGEs may use veteran information, with explicit duties on data return and non-retention. It does not specify penalties or enforcement mechanisms within the text provided and focuses narrowly on access and use controls rather than broader data-sharing reforms.
Key Points
- 1Prohibits the VA Secretary from providing DOGE with access to any veteran data held by the VA.
- 2Prohibits special Government employees from accessing or exfiltrating veteran data for commercial gain or for any non-government purpose not approved by the Secretary.
- 3Requires that if an SGE gains access to VA veteran data, the data must be returned to VA and no copies may be retained after the end of the service period.
- 4Provides definitions for key terms, including “special Government employee,” “veteran’s data,” “personal health information” (PHI), and “personal identifying information” (PII), to determine what information is covered.
- 5Establishes privacy protections and accountability for handling veterans’ data, but does not specify enforcement mechanisms or penalties in the text provided.