A Letter From The President
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"Dear President Dotson:![]()
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On January 14, 2021, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) in the Department of the Interior (DOI) discovered a data breach on our Search Decisions website that supports historical searches on publicly available decisions, which may have permitted unauthorized access to personally identifiable information of a small number of tribal members. OHA deeply regrets that this incident occurred and any impacts to members of your community.![]()
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We immediately took the Search Decisions website offline and initiated a thorough investigation that includes technical evaluations of system configurations, logs, and an in-depth assessment of case files and data elements to assess the risks to potentially affected individuals. These assessments include extensive coordination with multiple offices within DOI, and the technical issues will be resolved before making the Search Decisions website available to the public again.![]()
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The incident was determined to be the result of a misconfiguration and was not a cyber-attack. It involved an undetected software misconfiguration that allowed a limited number of records related to Indian probate hearings and appeals proceedings to be disclosed when searches were conducted on the site. We have determined that searches conducted on the Search Decisions website between December 13, 2019 and January 15, 2021, may have permitted unauthorized access to 26 cases that contained records of approximately 238 affected individuals who may be tribal members.![]()
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We are committed to protecting the privacy of individuals, providing resources to those who have been affected, and ensuring this type of incident does not occur again. OHA will notify the affected individuals directly and include an offer of identity protection services at no cost to them as soon as is practicable after the final technical evaluation. Any additional affected individuals who are identified during our investigation will also receive notification and support services.![]()
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OHA is working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to reach out to tribal leaders to establish a line of communication and provide information on the status of efforts to address this situation. We will remain in contact regarding this incident to report our findings to you as the results of the investigation become available. OHA has also established a website to provide information about the breach to individuals at www.doi.gov/oha/announcements.![]()
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Please contact Janet Lin, OHA Deputy Director, at (703) 235-1255 or janet_lin@oha.doi.gov or Richard Gibbs, BIA Associate Privacy Officer, at (505) 563-5023 or Privacy_Officer@bia.gov if you have any questions."![]()
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April 9, 2021![]()
United States Department of the Interior![]()
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY![]()
OFFICE OF HEARINGS AND APPEALS![]()
Arlington, Virginia 22203