Originally Posted by
155mm
I agree but there are laws in place such as HIPPA and the Privacy Act of 1974 that have to be adhered to in order for the FAA to retrieve that "protected information" and/or the VA to disclose it. The process the FAA used to gather or the VA used to disburse that information may or may not have been within the framework of the law ie: court order.
"Restricts disclosure of PII (personally identifiable information) that is maintained by
the Federal Government, including VA.
(Information can only be disclosed under
certain situations permitted by law. Otherwise,
information cannot be disclosed without your
prior written authorization.) "
https://www.oprm.va.gov/docs/Privacy...ochure_508.pdf
Interesting article on the mismanagement of VA medical records:
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-...cal-facilities
PII rules are quite complex with regards to federal agencies sharing info. But many of them do have the infrastructure in place to share info....
https://www.csoonline.com/article/28...h-records.html
But there's a pretty obvious loophole to me...
I don't think privacy act would prevent an agency from asking Treasury if you get payments from the VA. If you do, but checked "no" on the 8500, now DoJ has probable cause to subpoena your VA and FAA medical records for a detailed comparison.
The system is simply not going to bend over backwards to protect airline pilots who are lying to the FAA about their medical status. Congress would quickly amend the privacy act if needed (ie high profile issue came to light).