FiL wants all our data

[HighlandCowSaysBooNotMoo]

My father in law works in a government role.
Today he put a message in the family WhatsApp group asking if we could send him our addresses, d.o.bs, mothers maiden names, our place of birth, our address history, previous maiden names etc.
Apparently he needs this info from his 4 adult children, their spouses (me included) , his own siblings and his siblings spouses, grandchildren, his in laws etc. Basically he is covering every member of the family and spouses etc over the age of 18.
He has put something light hearted about it being needed for an enhanced security check that he's been told he needs for his job.
He is not changing jobs or position in the company. He has been in this job for since my husband was a wee kid!!
A couple of people have responded straight away with their data.
DH says IABU not to share mine with his dad
What do I do?

I worked for 12 years for an MOD contractor this is all very normal. As some PP have said it can even be more intrusive than this.
To answer some of the questions the employer does not get these details themselves as its not actually them doing the vetting, there is a seperate company that handles all this and does the checks. You give them as much info as possible and they do whatever checks they can. They are not interested in your details, they just want to make sure he is not connected to a terrorist etc and there is no information that he can be blackmailed about. Honestly I cannot believe the paranoia of some people on here, it may seem fictional but if you work in certain fields this is all very normal. My DH had an interview for an IT role in MI5 once and was given a cover story to use so no one knew where his interview was actually at.

Whatsapp is very secure - more so than text or email. It’s actually the safest way of providing information other than face to face. (Not that I think there is an issue to the OP in providing this info).

I had to do this for my job, you have to fill in a form which includes all these details. It's to check you don't have any dodgy relatives (e.g. no serious criminal records, involvement with intelligence services of other countries etc.). Not sure why you think the government would have time to contact tens of thousands of people individually for their details. If you aren't willing to share the data your FIL can tick a box on the form to say he doesn't have it, but this will slow down the process for him and he will be asked why. They may not believe it's just that you don't want to share it as obviously he could be lying to avoid your record being checked. If you trust him I'd just share it.

There are many cases of the spies who obtain and leak security info being cleaners, drivers, admin staff. It’s not necessarily the top brass Smiley’s People. Anyone vulnerable to bribes and blackmail - or otherwise politically motivated to steal intelligence secrets!

I don’t work for the government or any of their depts but I do work for a company that regularly works with them, and as a result we can be asked to go through security clearance.

For SC I was asked about my parents (and any other marriages etc) and all siblings plus if I was cohabiting with anyone.

What you’ve described is pretty standard although a lot more in depth so I would suggest it’s DV. I had to submit it myself, the team didn’t contact my family members to ask for it.

Didn’t bother reading the thread before commenting then?

all those people saying 'why doesn't the employer contact the family themselves?'- HOW WOULD THEY DO THAT WITHOUT THE FAMILY DETAILS???

My friend once went for a job in the canteen at the Railway museum- not realising it was owned by the MoD. She had to supply all this information as well.
And it's much worst for the person going through enhanced clearing- you have to go through a credit check and supply bank statements so they can check you are not doing anything blackmail-worthy

Sorry tried to quote someone, it didn’t work.

How would you get that kind of info about someone? I guess if you joined a genealogy site you might be able to find someone's birth details and mother's maiden name but other than that I wouldn't have a clue where to start.

Is it an American company? I had to do similar for a US state license - incredibly invasive.

Weirdly, they only cared about married partners, so whilst I had to give my ex-BIL's DOB and job, I didn't have to give my own ex's!

I'd call to make sure this was actually from your fil and not a scam and then reply privately, not to the group, with the requested info. As many other posters have said, it is standard for security vetting. It is likely some people will also be interviewed. I've done this for a former flat mate. The chap who did the interview was like a human lie detector - his eyes bored into your soul!

Ask him to show you the form as you can plug the data in yourself.

This is quite common for jobs where a high level of security clearance is needed.

Do you have any particular reason to think your FIL will use the information for a purpose other than what he has said? If not you are just making his professional life difficult for no real reason.

I’d hand the info over without much thought, of all the things you’ve mentioned, my mother’s maiden name is the only thing my FIL probably wouldn’t know anyway and maybe a couple of addresses from my childhood.

No, they don't. DH has to do this periodically if he works on a different site. He has to fill out a form, he has to get the information required. The government do not contact anyone unless something crops up!

Hi. I work in a government security job. He will be going through Developed Vetting. ‘DV’. He does this this information. It’s annoying, but it only happens every 10 years or so. If he doesn’t get the info, he could lose his job.

if you’re uncomfortable, ask if you can watch him type it into the SV online form.

I wouldn’t willingly give it out and if my husband did it against my wishes then the fact of our divorce could be added to the data. My wishes are more important than his father’s job.

If it can be obtained via covert means then I couldn’t do anything about it but it’s not my job to facilitate my in-laws getting a job. If it meant he didn’t get the job I wouldn’t care either. Not my problem.

General Register Office will have OP’s birth certificate (dob, place of birth, mother’s maiden name) and marriage certificate (her maiden name, though hopefully he would just know this if she even changed it). FIL can check his address book for address and address history.

It's fairly standard if you work in certain industries or government roles or even IT companies who are then going in to work with those companies etc.

It's not MI5 level they are just standard questions that go back to 1 level just as a check. The most annoying aspect of being vetted is it can take an age to hear back!

I've only read the first page of the thread and all of the OP's posts because it's a very long thread already, so apologies if I'm repeating what someone else has said.
My niece's DH had to supply all of this info for a move within the organisation in which he was already working.
In fact, it was more detailed than the info set out in the OP eg including how long niece's stepfather had lived at his address.
It was my niece, not the organisation, who approached her parents.
Obviously, they didn't want to obstruct their SiL's career progress so happily supplied it.

Is it the mother's maiden name bit that's a worry? Do you think he'll try to hack your passwords or something?
I don't see the problem. The stuff required would be general knowledge in most families, surely?

I think it's pretty sensible to think twice whenever you're asked for your data, but the request seems to stack up here - the type of info is par for the course for a security clearance, and it's normal to ask about family members and their partners. Even that aside, what he's asked for isn't super sensitive anyway - could likely be found out with good investigation skills.

I wouldn't make his life difficult over this. If you want any more info you could ask your DH to have a quick chat with him about why it's come up now (probably his role has slightly changed meaning an enhanced level is needed).

No, as far as I know, they do not. I worked in a role where DH had to be checked and I provided some info on him (although it was much more basic than what you're being asked for here) and then I signed something to say that he wasn't doing x or y. I assume the view was that if DH DID do something, the impact was on me, not him, and that's why they didn't need him to sign it - ie that I would be fired. In the same role, at one point my father was buying a product sold by my company and I had to disclose that. It was deemed fine, but I was told it was good that I had flagged it. It hadn't even occurred to my dad there might be a problem.

I have a friend that worked in a "government job". Chatting to her one day I asked if she watched "Spooks" (it was a long time ago!) and she said "No - it's a little too close to home.".

Suffice it to say I never asked about her work again until she changed jobs to something she could talk about a little more freely.

I have other relatives who work in very secure departments, so I'm sure my information will have been provided a few times now and I just don't know it. Let's face it - if the government really wants to know something it won't take them much digging!

If DFIL is going through enhanced security checks, hopefully it will give you a little more comfort about his current partner at least!

No - they ask the person being vetted. It is normal.

DH works for a private company but they have some MOD contracts. He has to do security vetting and fills it all in himself. It is quite full on, even down to things like what sort of porn does he watch! We have to put all our finances down etc. I think it's to make sure there is nothing you could be blackmailed about in exchange for sensitive information/access, as well as testing your honesty!
My step father who I haven't seen in 13 years is from Northern Ireland and his brother had run-in with the IRA which resulted in them having to come to England when they were younger - even though we have no contact we still have to provide further information etc.

Its damned if you do and damned if you don't! if they didn't do such in-depth checks then sooner or later someone who does have terrorist links would slip through the net and the results could be catastrophic.