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 had to do this for my best friend who works in security for a foreign government. I also had to provide photos of her at my wedding to prove she had left the country and been where she said she had.

My sibling works in a similar role albeit with very high level security clearances. Every couple years I have to supply this info.

No the employers NEVER contact you in this case, the individual going through the security clearance has to provide this themselves.

Unfortunately it is what it is, you can hate it as much as you like but this is what high level clearances are like. I'd speak to your FIL directly if concerned.

I've had experience of this and can confirm it is as he says - some clearances do require checks on family members (for eg link to known criminals/members of problematic groups etc).

I don't really understand why names/DOB etc is a worry to hand over to a family member at all, in honesty.

He's not asking for your banking details!

Also, this isn't something that is linked to a change of job, really - usually a new contract that requires at least one member of staff to have some sort of exposure to potentially sensitive documents.

DH is ex-RAF and one of his postings was at MOD main building in Whitehall. The enhanced DV he has to do was so detailed, he had to go through everything from his brother getting a police caution aged 15 for breaking a shop window, to my matched betting hobby and they asked a lot of questions about a school friend of his, who he met up with drinks for every now and then, who had been born in China.

The ultimate aim is, as has been said, to make sure the applicant has no hidden secrets that could be used to compromise/blackmail them. They don’t care if you’ve got a drink problem, a secret love child, an uncle on the sex offenders register, or a penchant for wearing rubber on Sunday: they just want to have all the info about you and your family so that they can make a judgement call on whether you should have clearance or not. The worst thing you can do is lie/try to hide anything as they will find out and it will be held against you.

My MIL met a distant relation online and agreed to help set up family tree.
She gave all this information about us ( her family, sisters, grandchildren, in law's) full names, dob, addresses, maiden name, place birth
Everyone got in a huff with me when I expressed concern and said that I wasn't happy with that level of data about me and my children being sent so easily to a stranger.

And he’s asking you to send all of this data via… the family WhatsApp? Hahaha definitely standard government security employee. No common sense. He’ll do very well. Have a good rummage through his bins next time you go, he’s probably improperly disposed of classified documents at some point, you might get some interesting news to share with us.

I had to have vetting for a previous job. It took 6mth start to finish and was v. Intrusive. What he's asking for sounds like the start of that level of clearance.

Wouldn't bother me giving it ..

I had to give a lot of personal data to my sibling's partner as he needed it for a new role in his job (military related). He had to report this info on his parents, step parents, siblings, their partners, and then same for his partner (my siblings) family.

I certainly would be asking a lot more questions before I handed over the data and I certainly wouldn't be sending it all over by WhatsApp. He shouldn't be asking for it via WhatsApp either - he's not much of a candidate for the kind of job that requires this level of security if he does this!!

He might be lying and wanting to put it all on Ancestry, or he may be going through Developed Vetting.

You have a right to refuse. If he doesn't get the job because of it, so be it. He can write 'refused' on the form, and see how things develop (no pun intended).

EXACTLY what I was coming on here to say. I'd have no problem with supplying my data to a close family member if I knew he worked in such a role - but he should NOT be asking people to send it via a shared WhatsApp!

I'd be having words about that.

Yes I thought that. If that poster supposedly has understanding about the process of security clearance, why would they discourage the OP from providing the relevant information?

Makes me wonder about the fantasy lives some posters lead on here, especially when it appears that every thread about anything high brow or interesting seems to apply to them… 🫢

He didn't. He asked them via WhatsApp. They can send him the details via any method they choose.

It's normal - my DH works in the civil service and has to do an enhanced security check periodically. Yes the department could contact you all individually, but much easier to ask the employee to provide the info in the first instance. If you are suspicious just have a chat with him to find out more - he would then be able to put you in contact with whoever has requested the clearance to put your mind at ease if needs be.

To me that sounds creepy as fuck. And your DH sounds like an idiot

It's not creepy at all. It's standard procedure for enhanced security checks.
I have 2 family members who need these, and they have to be regularly updated.

with the exception of my mother's maiden name, My FIL (and all my inlaws for that matter) have all that info anyways..

As said above.

If they don't know your address how can they contact you?
If they did contact you directly would you not assume it's a scam?

I think the vetting is perfectly normal

It's totally normal for some jobs. My husband had to do it for his police vetting.

No he hasn't explained it very well at all and if its all legitimate would his employers not contact us themselves for the information

No. That's not my experience. That would seem even more intrusive.
As said above, I have 2 relatives with enhanced security checks. I would rather give my details to them directly, than respond to a letter from a government department.

Why would he specifically need OP's mothers maiden name for any security checks?

addresses, d.o.bs, mothers maiden names, our place of birth, our address history, previous maiden names

I should have thought that your husband knows all of that anyway.

So not only was information about their family and friends collected, but some of their neighbours, previous workmates, school teachers etc would be interviewed by security staff

I can confirm this is the case with my experience too.

Que?

Because checking relatives and their relatives is a standard part of security checks. They need to establish whether the person they’re vetting is in proximity to anyone that could potentially compromise them. Mother’s maiden name is information they legally need, and the easiest way to get it is to simply ask for it.