re: Secret Clearance

["Robert A. Rosenberg" <hal9001@panix.com>]

At 21:00 12/5/95, Pete Loshin wrote:

>>From working at an organization that did a lot of government work,
>my understanding of the process of clearing employees is this:
>
>-certain tasks require knowledge or access that must be restricted
>-you have to have a high degree of trust in the people doing those tasks
>-people with money troubles, out-of-control addictions, skeletons in the
> closet, and histories of "troubles" are prime targets for subversion
>-doing a clearance check (in theory) eliminates the possibility that
> these people will be blackmailed/bribed into revealing their secrets

The problem is that they are subject to blackmailed/bribed/subversion ONLY
because the employer will use the info as an excuse for firing/restricting
the employee. If someone has a "skeleton in the closet" such as being gay,
so long as the employer does not discrimate against gays who INFORM the
employer of their sexual orientation or if the employer does not care about
the person being gay (ie: removes it a potential blackmail threat) there is
no problem so far as I can see. It is only when there is something that is
WORK RELATED which would affect the person's performance if not known that
the question of a background check is relevant.