The Dissenter
Thousands of Americans had their personal data passed on to US agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency, Internal Revenue Service and National Security Agency as part of an effort to uncover “untrustworthy federal workers,” according to a new report from McClatchy Newspapers.
The report from Marisa Taylor describes the creation of an “unprecedented” list of Americans that was disseminated widely with ease when there was no clear reason for sharing this data at all.
According to Taylor, two men are under criminal investigation for “purportedly teaching people how to pass lie detector tests.” The government sought to uncover information on government employees, who may have been using polygraph-beating techniques (which are unproven to work), while trying to obtain their security clearances. The result was “4,904 people—along with many of their Social Security numbers, addresses and professions – to nearly 30 federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the CIA, the National Security Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.”
“Nurses, firefighters, police officers and private attorneys” all had their personal information handed over. Additionally, a “psychologist, a cancer researcher, and employees of Rite Aid, Paramount Pictures, the American Red Cross and Georgetown University” all had their data shared.
Most of the individuals had never received any one-on-one training from “one of the men being investigated.” They had bought his books or DVDs. The reason for training, in some cases, was also to find out if their spouses had been unfaithful. However, federal agencies passed on the data of thousands of Americans, which they intended to keep in case one of those individuals applied for a job with the agency in the future.
One lawyer, whose husband’s name ended up on the list, told McClatchy, “It’s very alarming and McCarthy-esque in its zeal. To put a person on a secret list because they bought the ‘wrong book’ or are associated with someone who did is overly paranoid.”
Read More
Thousands of Americans had their personal data passed on to US agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency, Internal Revenue Service and National Security Agency as part of an effort to uncover “untrustworthy federal workers,” according to a new report from McClatchy Newspapers.
The report from Marisa Taylor describes the creation of an “unprecedented” list of Americans that was disseminated widely with ease when there was no clear reason for sharing this data at all.
According to Taylor, two men are under criminal investigation for “purportedly teaching people how to pass lie detector tests.” The government sought to uncover information on government employees, who may have been using polygraph-beating techniques (which are unproven to work), while trying to obtain their security clearances. The result was “4,904 people—along with many of their Social Security numbers, addresses and professions – to nearly 30 federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, the CIA, the National Security Agency and the Food and Drug Administration.”
“Nurses, firefighters, police officers and private attorneys” all had their personal information handed over. Additionally, a “psychologist, a cancer researcher, and employees of Rite Aid, Paramount Pictures, the American Red Cross and Georgetown University” all had their data shared.
Most of the individuals had never received any one-on-one training from “one of the men being investigated.” They had bought his books or DVDs. The reason for training, in some cases, was also to find out if their spouses had been unfaithful. However, federal agencies passed on the data of thousands of Americans, which they intended to keep in case one of those individuals applied for a job with the agency in the future.
One lawyer, whose husband’s name ended up on the list, told McClatchy, “It’s very alarming and McCarthy-esque in its zeal. To put a person on a secret list because they bought the ‘wrong book’ or are associated with someone who did is overly paranoid.”
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment