Search:

Custom Search

Readers' Comments

Total Comments: 11
Page 1 of 1

Protecting Feds from Personal Information Release and Identity Theft: Are Current Policies Enough?

My Information Only

ECS
IRS
Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:05 AM

Post Reply

I think this law is unjust...My personal information should not be given to anyone other than my employer and contracted employees should not be allowed to gain access to it. My employer should respect my information and use for work purposes only.

Private information of government workers

Examiner
IRS
Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:22 AM

Post Reply

First I see that you bad mouth unions. What do you have against unions of government workers. You do not mention whether they have legal restrictions on their use of private worker information. Do they? If so, are they the same as the government? if the union security is so bad, why do we hear about government and private industry losing private information, but not unions losing this information?
I also notice that it was contractors who looked up the candidates' passports. They are hired by management who follow the administration like sheep.
One way to control the loss of information is to hold the government and private industry financially liable for this loss. This might give an incentive for employers to be more careful

Re: Private information of government workers

Worker
DoD
Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:02 PM
First, the author was not badmouthing unions as you state. The fact is when information is released to unions under the Labor Statute there are no controls in place by the union to protect that info. Therefore, an errant union official may spread that info to anyone he/she so chooses. That's a plain and simple fact, so take that up with the union. Second, as far as contractors are concerned, they aren't hired by "management." There are contracting provisions in place that determine what contractor is hired to perform the desired work. Besides, it really doesn't matter if they were contractors or civil servants--they were silly, curious humans who didn't care to observe the right to privacy of individuals.

Re: Private information of government workers

Gils Son
Treasury
Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:37 PM
Worker (DOS) Can you or dad provide examples of when unions made inappropriate disclosures? I have been in government service for 33 years and I have yet to hear of a bonafide example as I am sure that if management ever got wind of such action they would have taken steps/laws to prevent the many lawsuits by the aggreived party that this situation would cause. We all know that some lawyer would go after Uncle Sam and win. It's not that I do not think it does not happen but only as much as the 3% figure pops worries about relative to outside agency access. Perhaps there is no control requirements for unions because it is not necessary! Laws are only enacted when regulation is necessary. Any union official who makes an unwarranted disclosure would suffer the same consequences that any manager in same circumstances, probably a lot worse.

Personal/Private Information of Federal Employees

HR Specialist
NARA
Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:36 AM

Post Reply

In addition to the above, we mustn't forget that a lot of agencies are digitizing OPF's into electronic OPF's, or eOPF's. This adds another group of people who have access to personnel data--the contractors who run the system, the Federal agency who works with the system, and the people who scan information into the system.

Personal Information

Investigator
US EEOC
Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:55 PM

Post Reply

Good article… However, it starts with the protection of employee’s identity in something as simple as e-mail addresses. A person’s name should not be part of their e-mail address. Other methods such as initials along with number combinations should be used versus an employee’s full name. E-mails are forward numerous times to unknown individuals and this is yet another way that I.D. theft can take place. Just take the names on e-mails forwarded to you and do a search in Zaba.com and see how much information can be obtained. However, Government Agency’s IT managers don’t want correct this problem because it causes them to do more work.

We told you so!

Retired DOL employee & Union rep.
DOL
Tue Mar 25, 2008 5:46 PM

Post Reply

The unions have been trying to convince the agencies this would happen since early in the Clinton administration. Contracting out jobs just gives the contractors unlimited access to all kinds of personal personnel records.

Labor Statute Doesn't Give Unions More Access

Anon
Anon
Tue Mar 25, 2008 10:28 PM

Post Reply

Bob, you may want to correct Problem #4. Federal labor case law does not give unions broader access to info than the Privacy Act does. That very question was the central issue before the Supreme Court in the names and home addresses case you referred to, DOD v. FLRA, 510 U.S. 487 (1994). Back then, there was a split in the circuits; some circuits held that, when faced with a Privacy Act defense, unions had no greater right to information than the general public; the 5th Circuit held that the FLRA Statute gave unions a greater right to information than the general public. The Supreme Court rejected the 5th Circuit approach and held that the Privacy Act prohibits the release of private information to unions just the same way it would prohibit release of this information to anyone else. Thus, when it comes to personal information about federal employees, federal unions can get neither more nor less information that you or I could get through a FOIA request.

Re: Labor Statute Doesn't Give Unions More Access

Worker
DoD
Wed Mar 26, 2008 10:23 AM
No, the union generally cannot get more information than what a FOIA request would provide, but they do get a lot of information that employees would consider private and sensitive, such as disciplinary actions taken against them, awards, performance ratings, timekeeping records, etc. What the point of that item is once that information is released to the union, the Agency has no control over how the union handles it.

FOIA

Chief
DA
Thu Mar 27, 2008 4:04 AM

Post Reply

Is this actually true - "You might be surprised to know that with few exceptions an individual Federal employee's name, position title, series, grade, position description, pay, awards, work location, place on the org. chart, and other information is freely available to public scrutiny. "

Hard to believe.

Re: FOIA

Civilian
DoD
Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:41 AM
Believe it, it's true. That's what comes with being a (public) civil servant. Your date of birth, SSN, race and handicap info is considered private, but everything else is free for the taking.
Total Comments: 11
Page 1 of 1

Add a Comment about this Article

** All fields are required.
Note: Your comments will not show up right away. FedSmith.com selects the most insightful comments from our readers for posting. If selected, your comments will show up in the comments section after they have been reviewed and approved. See our terms of use for more information.