Security clearance. Mind your own business

[Nonofyourbusiness]

Name changed for obvious reasons.
Dh has been told that his security clearance needs renewing. He’s worked for the same employer for years, so no idea why it needs to be revised. Nothing has changed. He isn’t applying for a job with higher security.
Anyway, he needs me to fill in the section about my financial security. I agreed, thinking it would be the usual, ‘how much do you earn, what are your outgoings’, etc, but I was surprised to see questions on the value of my jewellery and car. Questions on my credit card limits and questions on investments, ISA’s, etc. Can I refuse to answer them. It’s none of their business. Neither of us have any debt and we both have healthy credit scores. I really don’t understand why they need such in depth info. Any ideas?

According to DH who has to put up with questions on his sex life etc for his... they don't actually care about the answers, they already know they just want to see if you are honest.

That’s what mine said too.

If your husband requires Security Clearance for his job then you need to fill this in. Many roles require it being assessed every 5 or 10 years and if you refuse he could have his clearance removed and he will loose his jobs. They need to check to see he is at risk of bring bribed or blackmailed etc. This why they need to know your spending and credit information. I work in recruitment for the civil service and SC is very common.

Is there a part of the company applying to work for a government contract?

As a simple submit myself, you're making a mountain out of a mole hill, just fill it in. It's not that hard.

Normal. Pales into insignificance compared to the questions you get asked as the actual vetting subject. It starts with “What is your earliest memory?” And goes on from there 😳

OP you better hope your husband never needs DV as those questions get very intimate!

SC only lasts up to 10 years then needs renewing. Depends whether you want to gamble his job on you not answering the questions 🤷🏼‍♀️

If someone is massively in debit or assets don’t match income then there’s something adrift
as others said risk if bribery or blackmail

the people doing will have little or no interest in you personally just the info

be as awkward as you want but I presume no security clearance means no job for husband

Then you've potentially jeopardised his job. I hope you can live with that, and that he is the forgiving type.

Just answer the questions and don't be so ridiculous. Nobody will be broadcasting your data all over the media. It's treated confidentially.

Wow! So the last message was at this time last night and we have now had 18 replies telling me to fill it in, in the last hour. Spooky 😉

It's quite standard. I had to supply all kinds of info about my family etc when DH was offered a job requiring security clearance. There was a definite expiry date, but he left before it came up. He always swore he'd never apply for anything requiring DV checks.

I have a clearance, not DV, but still requires periodic updates. I don't have to do it but not doing it limits the jobs I can do. I personally won't go through DV because of the level of info required and the need for more regular reviews but I've had to decline job opportunities as a result. How does your DH feel about it?

You can grumble about it as much as you like but if you want your DH to have security clearance (and by extension have a job) you don’t have much choice. It’s not like they’re goi g to say “oh ok we were t bother”. It’s either a requirement or it’s not.

Completely standard for many public sector jobs at higher grades and it’s good they do it. It means we have a robust system. Plenty of careers require quite extensive vetting; teaching is one, you would need criminal records checks from any jurisdiction you’ve lived in, which is as it should be.
I never understand objections to this stuff. They aren’t doing it for fun or to gen up on you for nefarious purposes. They’re doing it to make sure you’re not going to fuck off with the Company assets or compromise national security …

I've had to go through different levels of MOD security clearance four times now, and I've never had to answer any questions anywhere near as in-depth as the ones they are asking the OP.

Strewth.

I never understand objections to this stuff.

I wouldn’t have objected at all if it was for me being vetted. It’s incredibly intrusive when you just happen to be married to the person who’s the subject of the vetting. I was also pretty pissed off at having our sex life delved into.

@BIossomtoes Why though? I mean, if your significant other is going to commit a crime or break cover, it is most likely going to be with you, or involve you. If you don’t want that kind of scrutiny then you can choose a partner who isn’t involved in that world.

the security screeners aren’t going to do anything with that info about you. Incidentally I’m in a similar position. I’m just too boring to be of interest to anyone.

It sounds like your partner has undergone DV? I haven’t done it but I can totally see why they do it. Resident partners must be risky. You’d want to know that your employee didn’t make bad relationship choices and leave you exposed. Incidentally I say that as someone who would probably fail DV because of my health diagnoses and probably also relationship history with an (unbeknown to me at the time) right dodgy geezer.

They want to see if you are a blackmail risk TBH. If you've got £90k of debt and not making mortgage repayments you're more likely to steal or sell your Granny to the highest bidder TBH.

I have worked in public sector role which has very recently come under scrutiny for not being thorough enough in it's clearance checks. I've been there 20 years. The checks that were done 20 years ago were shit and are much more thorough now. Someone being there for 20 or 30 years does not mean they are reputable people. Plus circumstances change.

I also agree that a lot of the information will be obtained through other means. I'm presuming you're on the electoral role. So they know you live with your DH. My employer credit checks me every 5 years (it shows up on my credit report).

This is really not true. They only know what you tell them. They can’t get into your bank accounts or social media. If you’ve got £10,000,000 worth of jewellery, as long as that’s not on the open source internet and you don’t talk about it in interview, there is literally no way they will know.

My brother and I have both been vetted to a high level and they don’t even cross reference our answers.

@Nonofyourbusiness people make stuff up about this because it makes them feel special. Don’t listen to it.

Out of interest, if you've been in a job for years, what actually happens if something comes up that the employer doesn't like when renewing security clearance? Has anyone actually lost a job because of their partner/family member's answers? Or non-answers?

the clearance questions and interview are part of a risk assessment. So - I now work for RIA novosti- might mean curtains. But - I contract for Tucker Carlson who has links to Russian State media- might be ok, or it might reduce your exposure to relevant material. It’s highly context dependent.

How do you know the vetters didn't cross-reference you and your brother's answers.

They're hardly going to tell you so! 😂

I'm amazed by this given the behaviour of some of our elected leaders. How is it that civil servants and their families are subjected to this when the people in power seem to be able to do whatever they like and no one gives a fig?