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?

This type of vetting usually lasts for 10 years and then you need to renew. Have you been in the family that long? If not it could just be this is the first time he is renewing since you’ve joined the family. Developed vetting is really in depth, they look into all family, your personal life, finances, sec life etc. basically they are looking to see if you’ll lie about any information - as if you do you can be seen as susceptible to blackmail by keeping things secret. Very few things in your family or history can fail you on vetting as long as your honest as then you wouldn’t be a blackmail risk. They check family etc to see if there’s any criminal history that isn’t declared etc. again for blackmailing purposes. It’s really intrusive for others and he should have explained it better but this could explain why it’s not come up before if this is the first renewal.

This.

Surely it would be better to contact each person individually, not in a group chat, and get individual responses

"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."

Well I would 'light heartedly' be responding with

"No. Really, what is this about? This is the sort of info that is used in identity theft, so who exactly is asking you to provide my details?"

Honestly, everything he's asking for is exactly the stuff that I was asked for for security vetting. It's not even top level stuff. I had to have it in a volunteer role which required me to hold keys in a government secure unit.
The vetting is even stronger when it comes to roles in places like GCHQ. My friend was a vetter for such roles, and travelled the country to interview friends and relatives of applicants.

It was tricky as I needed to provide information that I couldn't get as one of the family members (my dad) was dead, so I couldn't ask him.

Agreed

What happens if you are adopted?

You say you adore him, so presumably you are willing to provide your data.

If I were you, I would ring him up first, verify that the request actually did come from him, and find a more secure way to provide the data to him than via WhatsApp!!! My first thought would be that his account might have been hacked and you were all potentially going to be victims of identity theft.

He's been rather daft if the message was from him. Doesn't fill me with confidence that he has the skills to be handling sensitive data.

I agree with this. If i did respond, it absolutely wouldnt be in a group chat.

There's nothing to suggest that this is for the deep level vetting that will result in family being interviewed etc.

I needed the exact information that he's asking for, for my lower level security vetting. No-one was interviewed. The people whose details I had to supply were basically being checked against criminal and terrorism-related data. Hence the need for all past addresses etc.

You provide as much as you can. For higher level vetting (like this sounds like) you'd also have an interview in which they would try and verify your answers/check you aren't hiding anything by missing out info you did have etc. (probably not the best description but hopefully you get what I mean)

@saraclara - I agree, it’s normally enough info so that they can make sure they have the right person to run criminal record checks on and to make sure you don’t have an aunt in North Korea. I also think some people on here are being quite naive about how much information the government and private companies already hold.

Our Prime Ministers do not have DV level of security clearance. Believe it or not.

I’ve done it. And this level of detail is normal depending on vetting level. It’s to see if anything could be used to sway an employee with access to confidential/highly confidential govt information. And no, he can’t look it up himself. And he has to sign the form to confirm that he gave the info and it’s correct. And no, there is no central agency that trawls though to collect the information action on his behalf. If you’re unsure, ask him what security he’s going for - and provide it offline to him.

I don't think that is particularly surprising. Apart from my sister's address which I only remember because I used to live there too I couldn't tell you the full postal addresses of any of my family including my adult children. I know all their email addresses though. Now that most communication is electronic there's not much cause to remember postal addresses.
I'd expect most people to remember their children's and siblings' birthdays I guess, but not wider family, especially not in laws. The OP's FIL seems to want this information for a lot of the extended family so he probably does know his own children's dates of birth but not those of the whole group and it'll be easier just to post one message asking everyone the same.

Although it is incredibly intrusive, this information will indeed be required for DV level of security vetting. It would have been polite though for your FIL to actually have a conversation with you all about it, rather than just ask for all of that information. It's up to you whether or not you supply this information to him or not. If you do not, he could find out some of it himself (e.g. ordering your birth certificate etc.), it will also delay the process if he cannot supply all required data.

You should have a chat with him about this.

I'm also uncomfortable with the security checks made on myself due to my husband's employment, but we need to pay the mortgage and bills so I have to just put up with it.

And of course he knows what children he has. He's just not telling (or he can't remember what his last lie was about how many he had, so has to do that obfuscating eccentricity thing)

How could they unless he tells them the data?

I do find it very disconcerting that somebody in a senior security position thinks it's OK to ask family members for personal information via WhatsApp. Surely he'd make personal and private requests if it was needed?

Well if it’s good enough for No.10…

I’m agreeing with other posters, he needs it for security clearance, But, I wouldn’t send it to him via WhatsApp!

We once had a neighbor who worked for the FBI and we were periodically interviewed about him!

Christ, it sounds even worse than the Stasi ever were back in East Germany. 😱

This exactly. And not just family, but freinds, former partners etc. They would also come and face to face interview some of you. If you won't co-operate or say the wrong thing or withhold information then fil won't be able to take the role

How would this work for employees who are estranged from their families and have been for years and don't have this information?

Or employees who don't have any family?

Or employees whose family members refuse to give them this information?

This x1000