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What this software will not do

Based on Hard limits derived from 38 U.S.C. § 5904 (non-accreditation), VBN’s privacy posture, and the project’s no-monetization rule for the veteran-facing product. This page is a free community resource. We are not VA-accredited and do not file claims or provide legal advice (per 38 U.S.C. § 5904).

Last reviewed: April 2026 · Next review: October 2026

Maintained by: Veterans Benefits Navigator editorial team. Every citation links to a primary federal or state source. See editorial standards and our privacy posture.

Many of the most useful things software can do for a veteran are things VBN deliberately does not do. The list below is the unambiguous version. If a future feature would cross any of these lines, it does not ship.

  1. We will not collect a Social Security number

    No tool, form, or wizard on VBN asks for an SSN. There is no field where you could enter one even if you wanted to. If a future tool ever needs identifying information for a real reason, it will be an entirely new design conversation, and the answer will most likely still be no.

  2. We will not collect a VA file number, claim number, or DoD ID

    These are identifiers VA uses to associate records with a specific veteran. We have no use for them and no place to store them.

  3. We will not file a VA claim

    Representation of a veteran before VA is restricted by 38 U.S.C. § 5904 to accredited VSO representatives, claims agents, and attorneys. VBN is not accredited. We do not prepare, submit, or transmit anything to VA on a veteran’s behalf. Tools that look like forms are decision-support; the actual claim is filed by the veteran (or their accredited representative) on VA.gov or in person.

  4. We will not provide legal or medical advice

    VBN explains the law and routes to professional help. We do not interpret a single veteran’s file, predict an outcome, or recommend a treatment. Where a question turns on the facts of one case, we say so and point to a CVSO, VSO, or accredited attorney.

  5. We will not run a clinical screening instrument

    No PHQ-9, PCL-5, AUDIT, or any other diagnostic tool. Mental-health pages route to crisis resources (988, press 1) and to clinical care, not to scores. Crisis resources are ungated and present on every mental-health page.

  6. We will not store Protected Health Information server-side

    The site is a static export. There is no server that holds your data. The two browser-storage keys we use (vbn-profile and vbn-wizard-draft) live in your browser only. The plain-English data page at /about/how-we-handle-data documents what each one holds.

  7. We will not capture income amounts

    Means-test screeners use ranges (e.g., “above or below the regional threshold”) rather than dollar figures. We do not need exact income to give you the answer the screener can give.

  8. We will not capture school enrollment, GPA, loan amounts, or property addresses

    Education, housing, and benefits screeners ask the minimum needed to navigate. They do not ask for the kind of detail that would let anyone reconstruct your private life from your inputs.

  9. We will not run third-party trackers, ads, or analytics

    No Google Analytics, no Meta pixel, no heat-mapping, no session replay. The Network tab in your browser will confirm it: outside of static asset loads from this site, no requests leave your browser.

  10. We will not monetize the veteran-facing product

    No ads, no sponsored content, no affiliate links, no referral fees, no premium tier. No feature is gated behind an account. The veteran-facing product is free forever. Adjacent commercial products, if they ever exist, will be in a legally separate entity with a hard firewall and no cross-linking from veteran-facing pages.

Where to go for what we do not do

For anything on this list, the right next step is an accredited representative or VA itself.

  • For claim preparation, filing, and representation, see Finding a CVSO and the VA OGC accreditation search.
  • For mental-health crisis support, the Veterans Crisis Line is 988, press 1, available 24/7.
  • For details on how VBN stores the small amount of data it does store in your browser, see How we handle data.