Comment by ungreased0675 5 days ago
This site feels icky and I’m not quite sure how to articulate why. What is the purpose of this service? Why is it good for the public have access to detailed records of individual, recently deceased veterans? Isn’t this a gold mine for scammers? Is this project LDS affiliated?
Agree completely with your comments and the parent's comment. It feels like this shouldn't have been allowed by the courts without better scrutiny and wisdom on the part of the courts.
Why exactly should arguably one of the MOST important parts of a state get exceptions to the law and transparency based on feelings?
> Why exactly should arguably one of the MOST important parts of a state get exceptions to the law and transparency based on feelings?
In exactly what way do you think people's personal medical records are "arguably one of the MOST important parts of a state"?
If you believe so much in transparency, put your money where your mouth is. Post all of your medical records here, right now.
> This site feels icky and I’m not quite sure how to articulate why. What is the purpose of this service?
Sounds like genealogy, and a small fraction of the documents in a veteran's would probably be very helpful in fleshing out some basic details of their military service (especially given a fire destroyed many of the original copies of those documents).
The actual medical records part seems inappropriate, though.
> Why is it good for the public have access to detailed records of individual, recently deceased veterans? Isn’t this a gold mine for scammers? Is this project LDS affiliated?
It seems like it's a gap in FOIA. These records should be available, just not to everyone in the whole world (at least not before, say, 60 years after the veteran's death). It seems legitimate that an appropriately-close family member should be able to request them (similar to restrictions in requesting birth certificates).