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?

Totally normal, not at all creepy and have been through it multiples times for DH. Drives me up the wall though as my family history is a bloody mess- multiple step dad's, surname changes, addresses so I absolutely hate doing it.

If you don't want to share with anyone else I'd just reply directly to him. But as PP say what he's asking for is mostly widely available anyway.

Yes this sounds perfectly legitimate and standard. Vetting needs to be reapplied for every x years even if you're still in the same job. I would definitely supply the information and not make him feel more awkward than he probably already does having to ask for it.

My brother needed to supply this info to his employers for his parents, siblings & parents-in-law

I’ve had enhanced vetting at work, I had to provide all of the details as you mentioned.
also had enhanced financial vetting where I had to provide how much I had in savings, my current account, how much my house was worth ect.
really intrusive but it was to make sure I’m not in financial hardship and susceptible to bribes.
the family vetting was to make sure none of my family had convictions I didn’t know about and would constitute inappropriate relationships.

My husband has to do this for his job and no the employer doesn’t contact you.

No, that's not how it works.

The person applying for clearance has to amass all of the info. If they don't, it's a straight no.

No

I love the way that people are still responding to the OP as if 700+ people hadn't already told her about security vetting.

This is basically a thread of three responses, each repeated hundreds of times.

1 It sounds like vetting to me (mentions husband/brother/random relative)

2 Surely the company/government should do this for themselves?

3 NO WAY HOW DARE HE ASK? WHATSAPP IDENTITY THEFT PASSWORDS

Some of the replies on this thread are mad!
DH had to provide all this info for security clearance when he joined the prison service and I did it for security clearance to work on a nuclear power station. It's nothing sinister or intrusive and the clearance only lasts for a finite period of time as, surprise, surprise, people's circumstances change over time. Just give him the info, but individually if you don't want to post it for everyone to see in a group WhatsApp.

If someone is having an affair do they need to get all this information from their affair partner ?

Does he work in financial services and perhaps been given a new role or new responsibilities? If so, this could be for a regulatory application his employer needs to make as part of his ‘fit and proper’ assessment. The regulator actually use it check for suspicious transactions ie share dealing by connected persons based on ‘possible’ inside knowledge. You have to give anyone in same household, parents, adult children and their spouses, step children etc

Have you skeletons?

You are totally right to resist this request! What exactly is he going to do with all this info-and more importantly, how is he going to keep the details safe/encrypted/stored when he gets it? It strikes me the data he's asking for would be a total gift for online scammers if any of FILs accounts/storage are hacked. In fact the request sounds so odd-are you even sure its from him & not just a random scammer? Definitely suss.

Oi, don’t forget me and my hot take that it’s FIL passing his mental load onto OP. 🤣 I just need two (2) posters to agree with me then we’re in at No.4 on your list!

This is known as vetting all high security/ senior civil servant government jobs and police officers have to inform the services of this information. In addition to this they will check his social media accounts, credit history, all his previous addresses (ex girlfriends or ex wives) they are extremely intrusive but when someone is in such a high position the job want full transparency. Here is a link https://www.securityclearedjobs.com/staticpages/10296/security-clearance-questions-answered/

I would say this is fairly standard today in a government role with security checks. We have had similar with a family member in a senior military role.

Sounds a bit ott.
I've had standard security clearance as well as enhanced and all they wanted was my parents place and dob, partner and that's it. Enhanced asked my banking details so they could check I wouldn't be a good blackmail candidate!

How new is his partner? He may need a new security clearance due to them or an updated one. I am Canadian but I worked a government job that needed a fairly high security clearance and when I declared a new partner ie live in, married etc sometimes depending on my position or clearance level they would need updated information on all.

Any security I did needed all info on all my family members and if I recall correctly their spouses including address for a certain amount of years if I recall, DOB, phone numbers and employment. I don’t remember all the information as it’s been many years since I have done one. I have been retired since 2017 and it was many years before that I needed to do a clearance or update one.

He could be more upfront about why he needs it. I always was and everyone understood due to knowing my job🤷🏼‍♀️

It sounds standard for the civil service. Sometimes it gets ridiculous; I had to get all the details for my father, who left when I was a small baby, and his wife, who married him when I was grown up. I could barely pick them out in a line up, but I still had to get all their info.

It's not the highest level actually, there is a "higher" level. I'd tell you more about it but then I'd have to kill you.

The idea that just because someone needs the vetting means they have access to all personal data in the UK is so ludicrous. At GCHQ, for example, even the reception staff need DV clearance, and they don't have access to diddly squat! I had to be vetted (not full DV) just to visit.

Btw, you don't need the information (which is not "sensitive data") for DBS, it's for SC or DV. DBS, even the enhanced one, is only about you, not your associates.

Yeah, years ago I had to get all the details of an ex bf, I'd not spoken to him for a few years but because we had lived together in the five years previous they wanted his details. So I got them. It transpired his mum has changed his name when he was very young and there was no official record of the name he used, and I didn't know his previous name, so he had to be interviewed. Which was a bit tricky for me.

In my experience, no, they wouldn't. I've had to give information of this sort a couple of times, and in each case the person who was being vetted rang me up and asked me for my information over the phone. In one case I was fairly sure it was something to do with working with NATO on something, but I didn't ask: none of my business.

The government would already have had at least as much information about me as can be found on the internet (ie what can be found on the internet, plus whatever else about my siblings etc isn't there, such as having been in Paris in May 1968, and having spent some time in a student house one of whose occupants was the son of the then secretary of state for Wales), but it is simpler and quicker for them to get the information collected for them by the person in whose interest it is to do so.

I doubt there is much point in your trying to conceal such stuff; it's out there already. You might just as well simply answer the questions.

Hmmmm...that's perilously close to #2. But if there's enough support for mental load that doesn't mention 'the company' (which doesn't exist) or the government doing it instead, I'll consider a fourth contender

I was asked for similar info for security clearance re working for a company which is a sub contractor for the M.O.D.
Have also heard of family members asking for all sorts of info when they are arranging for an extensive family tree.

ExDP once worked in a role where enhanced security clearance was required even though we weren’t married but lived together they needed my fathers army number and exact date he left service (1949) thankfully he could remember both!
I did not know where he worked or on what - all I knew was that it was around a 90 minute journey from our house and the general direction eg East
He told me some of the details years later when the ‘project’ had been called off and he no longer worked there