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?

That didn’t make sense as a reply to my post @saraclara

Where does the OP say the information has to be supplied via WhatsApp?

Surely all of the information he's asked from you, he could easily find out anyway? So it's just to save him the job of gathering every family members info?

Developed vetting is quite horrendous really. My friend was questioned for ages as to why her brother wasn't married. They are looking for anything that might leave you open to blackmail. She came to visit me when I lived in Northern Ireland and had to get permission to come (that was only 2003!). I was on a career break and work told me they would do checks when I came back to make sure I'd not been flagged by any paramilitary groups, and I wasn't in a job that needed DV!

Even for normal security clearance you have to provide all your parents details.

I find this fascinating.

My BIL is a civil servant, he has worked on some pretty secretive stuff yet we've never had to provide any of this info for the past 13 years. Maybe my DH did pre-marriage.

My brother's best friend had a high up job up in the FCO and my brother was interviewed by the security services to see if my DB's mate was a blackmail risk.

I guess they do enhanced security checks when needed.

give him what he's asked for. If you don't, he might have to kill you ....

I was asked for this info when I applied to be a PCSO!

I ended up withdrawing my application because I didn't feel comfortable with sharing my family's info to that level but I don't think it's unusual to be asked.

He won't be working on anything that requires high level DV then. He may claim to be, but those that claim to be rarely are in my experience 😉

Mine was repeated after 6 years. It is a very intense process and very certainly not for the faint hearted!

Its fairly normal information for higher level security checks. WhatsApp used to be deemed very secure communications method as everything is encrypted, right up until it was found to have flaws. I would want to have it handed directly to relevant people not using digital means to communicate.

This is normal for Civil Service jobs in many government departments. We have had to provide it for DD1 when she was applying for graduate jobs in the Civil Service, and also for DD3, who is in her final year at uni and applying for them too.

Phone him and ask him what it is needed for. If it is for clearance to work on a certain project then why would you be obstructive? You don't have to supply the info via WhatsApp, though I think that is a fairly secure means of doing it if you message him personally rather than via a group chat as it is encrypted.

Either he provided the information without having to directly ask you, or he’s not actually been involved in any secretive stuff.

@notlucreziaborgia and @justteanbiscuits

He definitely has. He has a letter from a former US president personally thanking him, also he has a specialist subject matter so will be involved infrequently at the highest level. I asked him if he was a spy, unfortunately he's not.

Thinking about it, BIL would probably have just asked DH and DH told him or he told him prior to marriage

Tell him to f off. Immediately!

He likely can't tell you as much but it sounds like they're increasing his security clearance. Could be a new project without his job/ role changing.

I've had to provide such information. I've also had to explain why I couldn't answer some questions.

No they won't ask you directly. They'll provide him a form and ask him to complaint. They'll then do checks on each of you. They need to consider how vulnerable he is to blackmail and if he has any dubious family connections.

As I said, it's repeated at a set time, up to 6 years. So chances are it will have been repeated.

Having a Presidential thank you doesn't mean you are working at the highest level. I've had men brag to me about their super high level of security clearance etc etc. I know they don't have it because they're bragging about it. I had to report when my brother married while I was working there, and had to get information from soon to be sister in law - not information my brother would necessarily have had, and she also had to know I was giving it incase she was contacted. I can a little more open about it now as it was some time ago. He also wouldn't have been able to tell you if he was a spy, quite obviously. no one in my life, outside of colleagues at the time, know even who I worked for, let alone what I did. Not even my husband.

Seems like he’s applying for a role that requires enhanced security (you’re told not to say you’re applying for it but it’s pretty obvs when you have to ask all the info). I recently had to provide all of this info for my and my husband’s side of the family - just so I could audit something lol. To be fair this is nothing that wouldn’t be available elsewhere in the UK if you know where to look. Dobs / addresses are all public record

What an intelligent reply (not)!!

That doesn’t mean he’s worked on anything secret or top secret tbh. Governments generally have a number of standard ‘personal’ letters/greetings they send out. You can request a letter from the President via the White House website.

If he has worked on anything secret though, he’s absolutely has had to go through security clearances. He just didn’t make you aware of it.

The OP doesn't, you're right. But she knows that some people already have posted their dats on it, for everyone else on the WhatsApp to see and do what they like with.

As someone else has said, it's not paranoia to be cautious about this - every bit of advice about personal data URGES caution and not sharing in public - even if the forum is a family one. Because you can't guarantee what other members of that forum do with it, even inadvertently.

But surely only if they are also looking at OP's mother? In which case they would need more than just the maiden name?
The list looks like a hackers heaven.

I've a couple of friends who are a bit odd - imo - about shop loyalty cards: "They're (who ever "they" are) are keeping tabs on what I buy..."
I always think: Good! They'll start sending me vouchers for wine and chocolate then.
Unless they're buying enormous quantities of bleach and fertiliser and something else that I can't remember to make a bomb (I'm sure it was mentioned in a Val Mcdermid book), who cares what they're buying?

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

The mother's maiden name stands out to me as the odd one out.

The list looks like a hackers heaven.

Who would be doing the hacking?

FiL? The government?

Presumably, if the OP's wary, they could ask for some official confirmation that this information has been asked for.

I think it’s sugar, isn’t it?

Yes, that’s what a background check entails. They’re looking to see if there’s anyone/anything the person undergoing clearance could be compromised by.

They will get the information whether OP provides it or not. Birth, marriage and death records can all be accessed online, and the relevant information appears in the index so you don’t even need a copy of the original document.