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?

its for security clearance and is normal. My husband (armed forces) had to get the same details from my side.

Then afterwards he will have to do a 3 hour security interview. He’s probs going into a new role with more clearance required. I had to provide bank statements etc even though it’s not my job!

No way would the employer contact you as the interview comes from another dept (outsourced) and how would they? They don’t have the resources or knowledge to know FILs’ DIL email address

they run simple checks to ensure no criminal records that you’d see with organised gangs

What ? Write it on a piece of paper that might end up in the bin? That's secure!

Won’t happen. It’s on the employee to collate the information. All a refusal to comply will do is to give the impression the OP has something to hide.

You think WhatsApp is any more secure ?

Because 90-odd% of the people on here are totally paranoid.

This is legit if he is indeed getting higher security clearance. They need to know if he has family members with dodgy Russian mafia links, criminal history or a considerable amount of debt (eg making them or him by extension vulnerable to blackmail or kidnap). It’s normal that he’d have to provide these details for extended family members and declare any vulnerabilities (including his own personal history).

I do actually @Rosscameasdoody , not sure if you've read about this thing called the Covid enquiry?!

As mothers maiden name is a security question used by banks etc, so make sure your passwords on bank accounts etc aren't linked to any of this data for your own peace of mind and provide the data to him. The data is in public registers, so whilst a pain to find, it is findable.
I don't know what job he does, but there's a lot of unrest in the world at the moment and he may have been asked to do a prpject with high security clearance. One of my clients is in defence and extra clearance requests do happen.

Have you got something to hide?

It is very normal to ask for this information in a government role. It is likely to be for SC or even DV clearance. I had to ask my parents, step parents, brothers and sisters.

Ask more questions if you feel uncomfortable.

My husband had to do the same for an enhanced security clearance, it was insanely intrusive including an interview process asking all sorts of details.

Some extended family members weren't comfortable and just refused to provide the data, which is fair enough I think.

No this is legit. I’ve done this clearance - and a pain in the ass it was too as I’m not in contact with my dads half of the family. It all goes into a massive form and then the clearance folk will check you’re not known to be a major criminal or Russian spy

Admin staff in the government civil service who do the checks simply don’t have time to dig up all this information and contact you themselves. That would be very expensive. Much better use of public funds to get the person being cleared to provide the info. Could save days. Imagine that times thousands of staff!

I've had to be checked several times because of my cousins husbands job.
They didn't ask the first few times as my cousin knew all that info about me, only when I moved house and they had to check my address a year or so later.
Its fine, if your worried its not normal just phone him and to give him your details

WOOOOW😯! nasty

That's not how it works.

Standard request as others have said for enhanced clearances. Wouldn't consider it dodgy myself. Unless you really think his partner is out to steal all your identities @HighlandCowSaysBooNotMoo? Doubt they'd be that blatant about it though!

BIL (sister's husband) had to ask me for my data for a new project he took on at work. I don't think they were even married or living together at the time. Basically it was a job with sensitive information from a security point of view and it was in case he had relatives that might try to pressure him to share information to use for their own gain.

It sounds legitimate to me but fair enough not to share via WhatsApp!

Was wondering the same thing. Haven't seen exh for more than 20 years. Not a clue which country he lives in even. I know dob but he has such a common name I'm not sure that would help.

Edit, thinking further, I'm not sure hes even alive, I've not heard rumours or anything for a number of years now.

Standard security checking data.
I've in the past had to provide date and place of birth of my parents. Both long dead - I didn't have a clue where they were born but I knew one of my siblings had the data so got it from them.
OP - just phone your relative, check the request is legitimate, then provide the information.

Just call him and talk to him!

You’d rather someone you didn’t know contact you and ask for all that information?

The polite way to do this would be for him to collate what he knows already and then explain to the group what he needs and why. It sounds as though he has just demanded it.

I understand WhatsApp is end to end encrypted, but many don't know this and all messaging re scamming is to not supply info like this in this way and I would say regardless to who this is.

People are rightly protective if their data, he should know this and approach sensitively and cautiously.

I think people are within their rights to not give the data if they don't want to. The 'got something to hide' argument is a bullying tactic. Not sure how they check who and how many friends you have btw!

What a fuss about nothing, just talk to him about your concerns!

They may not pass SC or DV protocols. Often they can remain employed but would only have access to certain level info or be excluded from certain meetings.
For DV in particular they need to know everything about you, because they want to know if anyone can bribe you or has a hold over you. It's about transparency, if you don't know the info then you are a risk to be privy to this info unfortunately

WhatsApp - my IT security hates the fact people think it is "secure". He only uses it because repeated attempts to get wider family to move to telegram/signal have failed.

You need to be sure everyone has secure passwords and TFA
It can be used for phishing
Owned by Meta (not known for caring about user privacy)
All those details potentially left on a message on his phone....how long for....?

I would

1. Check it is him asking (not phishing)
2. Give him the data some other way - if electronically make sure it is way more secure than WhatsApp and on a disappearing message/not stored.