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What's happening in the federal IT community
By Friday, August 31, 2007 | 1:43 PM
Scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are suing NASA and the California Institute of Technology, which manages JPL, over what they say are unwarranted and overly personal background checks under the governmentwide access cards required under Homeland Security Presidential Directive - 12, according to an article by the Associated Press.
The lawsuit was filed by 28 plaintiffs, many of whom “have worked on such projects as the Mars rovers, the Galileo probe to Jupiter and the Cassini mission to Saturn, but none are involved in classified work, according to the suit,” AP reports. “It seeks class-action status to represent similar JPL employees.”
The Department of Commerce also has been named in the suit because the department promulgates federal identification standards. To obtain an identification card, which will give employees access to federal buildings and computers, employees must fill out a form asking them about employment history, past residences and any illegal drug use.
More from the article:
The suit claims the directive was concerned "exclusively with the establishment of a common identification standard" and "contemplates no additional background investigation or suitability determination beyond that already required by law."But according to the lawsuit, the Commerce Department and NASA instituted requirements that employees and contractors permit sweeping background checks to qualify for credentials and refusal would mean the loss of their jobs.
NASA calls on employees to permit investigators to delve into medical, financial and past employment records, and to question friends and acquaintances about everything from their finances to sex lives, according to the suit. The requirements apply to everyone from janitors to visiting professors.
The suit is structured so that it can become a class action suit. Could this just be the tip of the iceberg?
Comments
I just Googled HSPD-12 and read it, and nothing I saw there required any change in the system of background checks currently used in the US Government. Under the current system, only the most sensitive positions require a full Background Investigation (with the interviews of neighbors and friends, etc.). This is the "deep background" checks that "the people who run the government" actually DO get, but these are expensive, from $5,000 to $20,000 each, so as a matter of practicality, are limited.
If DHS is requiring a full BI of everyone at any government agency, where are they going to get the money? Is it part of the $5B per day (or whatever) they want for Iraq? Maybe this is why body armor wasn't available -- they spent it doing BI's on janitors!
Idiocy, and not supported by HSPD-12's text, as far as I can see.
Ed
Ed Drone | Tuesday, September 18, 2007 | 10:12 AMCan we please stop wasting taxpayer's money? How about putting some dollars into reinforcing bridges and levees that will actually save lives.
The Q | Wednesday, September 5, 2007 | 9:18 PMHey, the Air Force does it! They check and double-check everything about their employees. But the problem is not with the employees! It's with the "others" who would seek to infiltrate and cause mischief ... and you know they just won't waltz in via the front gate or hack and leave their DNA behind. I believe in security, but let's put the money and effort into smart objectives, not into badges that close down access to the internet or record time and attendance.
Joker | Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | 12:13 PMThis artical along with the "artical" within it from the "Herald Tribune" should be required reading for all DOD employees, union member or not. This kind of thing will be common place if the Pentigon is successful in initiateing the National Security Personnel System(NSPS). Because one of the main objectives of NSPS is to destroy collective bargining within the Federal Government. My bet is those folks at the JPL NASA do not have union protections. DOD employee's be aware this kind of thing is comming your way under NSPS.
W Jackson | Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | 9:42 AMIn an era when attracting and retaining top talent to careers in the federal government is so challenging, here is but another reason to say "No Thanks!" For employees working in non-classified positions, what is the need for additional background information beyond the typical fingerprint check? Whom does DHS propose perform all these background investigations? The current backlog says they are not able to handle the present workload, so how much worse will it be as a result of this new initiative? This seems like a classic example of the pendulum swinging too far in the other direction. I am all for beefing up security, but lets be realistic please.
Phil | Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | 8:23 AMWhy don't they do these kind of deep
background checks on the people that run the government.
Any snooping into people's lives ought to require substantial justification.
The kinds of check listed in this article are usually required for a security clearance, but a simple ID card is not a security clearance. Such checks are redundant, hence wasteful, for people with clearances. For people without clearances such checks are unwarranted, hence wasteful.
I hope it is the tip of the iceberg.
wayne | Sunday, September 2, 2007 | 4:14 AM