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What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

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Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#101

Post by ArnoVW »

pedrovhb wrote: post #91
grishka wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My only experience with serious US government forms was applying for a tourist visa. This form also has some bonkers checkboxes like "do you plan to commit any crimes in the US". Also the entry form they give you on your flight deserves a mention. This one has "did you handle livestock in the last X months" repeated like 3 times in different phrasing. Not as stupid as the first one, but... why? Why is that question t…

Ah, the "are you a terrorist" section of the U.S. visa application is hilarious. I was honestly laughing out loud at some of the questions, imagining a sincere terrorist having their plan foiled by their strict moral code which requires them to lay out in detail their plan to topple the government :)

I've always understood that those questions are just a legal construct to be able to get you out of the country in case of issues.

No need to prosecute for expulsion if there were lies on the immigration form; it becomes just an administrative matter.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#102

Post by petecooper »

I did a tour of IT distributors & resellers around Johannesburg back in the early '00s. I was the tame tech, the sales guy was a good dude. It was standard issue for all visitors to fill out a paper form with name, company, occupation, and car registration details as a lot of parking lots were secure compounds, given the atmosphere in South Africa. As the week went by, and the sunshine got to us, we ended up providing our occupations with increasing absurdity: serial killer, axe murderer, escaped drug lords, etc. The only one that raised any response – from a very burly Afrikaner – was me stating I was a "6ft invisible bumblebee".

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#103

Post by javawizard »

hotpotamus wrote: post #95
airesearcher wrote: post #90

I often answer the doctor office intake questionnaires with a glaring mistake just to see if anyone checks. Where it says “have you ever been pregnant?” I answer yes. I also mark that I am a male. No doctor’s office has ever mentioned this to me after I turn in the forms.

Those aren't actually considered to necessarily be in conflict these days. I think sex assigned at birth or something like that would probably be the relevant medical question.

This exactly: gender and possession of a uterus are two very different things.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#104

Post by zoklet-enjoyer »

wnkrshm wrote: post #78
pram wrote: post #65

I had a TS/SCI clearance when I was in the military, and I don't even recall being interviewed. I filled out some background information form and months later I was unceremoniously informed I had received it. Maybe it's just more stringent for civilians?

They will investigate your background, whether you have any ties to family abroad by which you could be blackmailed etc. An acquaintance of mine (from East-Germany) had a US boyfriend who started to work for Lockheed - in the interview he was asked "Why doesn't your Eat-German girlfriend answer her phone?". She said she got some calls from an unknown number and didn't pick up. Edit: I meant Eastern Germany, after uni…

I don't think East Germany ever had caller ID

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#105

Post by jstanley »

deutschepost wrote: post #100
grishka wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My only experience with serious US government forms was applying for a tourist visa. This form also has some bonkers checkboxes like "do you plan to commit any crimes in the US". Also the entry form they give you on your flight deserves a mention. This one has "did you handle livestock in the last X months" repeated like 3 times in different phrasing. Not as stupid as the first one, but... why? Why is that question t…

I heard a pretty good interpretation of why these questions exist. If you say that you don't plan to commit crimes and then commit one, you have essentially lied on the form. In some cases at least it is way easier for the state to deport someone if they lie on their immigration form. But if the question wasn't there you would have to go through the whole legal process. On the other hand, if you answer yes to this qu…

But you might legitimately not be planning to commit any crimes, but then change your mind once you get there. The fact that you committed a crime after saying you weren't planning to do so does not mean that you were lying.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#106

Post by pjc50 »

prmoustache wrote: post #63
xdfgh1112 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://yarchive.net/risks/mongrel.html Other poster posted the same link but is getting downvoted so might get overlooked.

I never understood that obsession and unwillingless to give up that broken concept of race/ethnicity in the USA.

Large areas of the US were, in a very literal sense, built out of racism. While the most overt racism has mostly been pushed out of the public, legal and media spheres, large quantities remain as a sort of Superfund site just below the surface.

Plenty of people from that era are still alive, like Elizabeth Eckford against whom the Arkansas National Guard was deployed to prevent her from going to school.

Hatred against miscegenation was so high that there was an entire legal structure to prevent ""mongrels"" from existing, so somebody writing that on their form is going to cause conniptions.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#107

Post by bell-cot »

skissane wrote: post #75
koliber wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> most people, after they've been grown-ups for a while, figure out that "find the winning lotto ticket on the sidewalk and get rich" True, but it's not completely bleak either. I once wanted to take out $40 from an ATM, and it gave me $60! I never told anyone and this is the first time I am sharing this. If a time comes to fill out a security clearance application, should this go in there? Moral of the story: it tak…

> True, but it's not completely bleak either. I once wanted to take out $40 from an ATM, and it gave me $60! One time, I wanted to take $40 out of an ATM, it gave me $80 instead. I checked my Internet banking - they had the ATM withdrawal at the expected location, but only for $40, which is all I’d asked for. Then, a few days later, I got another $40 debit transaction, but of a strange type I’d never seen before - it…

Guess: They screwed up in loading or configuring the ATM, so it believed it was (say) giving you $10 bills, when it was actually giving you $20 bills. I've seen that happen - as an insider, to hear more of the (dull) detail.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#108

Post by eloisius »

matwood wrote: post #99
stingraycharles wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would the ramifications be if they ever found out you lied? It’s an innocent lie, but still, I can imagine that lying on these types of forms could turn out badly.

> It’s an innocent lie It's not the lie itself, it's that you lied at all. Now you are untrustworthy. Drug use in the past is typically not an issue, particularly if you were young at the time. The whole process is to determine if you have good judgement and can be trusted.

And to find out of you have secrets that other people could use to get leverage over you.

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#109

Post by LudwigNagasena »

deutschepost wrote: post #100
grishka wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My only experience with serious US government forms was applying for a tourist visa. This form also has some bonkers checkboxes like "do you plan to commit any crimes in the US". Also the entry form they give you on your flight deserves a mention. This one has "did you handle livestock in the last X months" repeated like 3 times in different phrasing. Not as stupid as the first one, but... why? Why is that question t…

I heard a pretty good interpretation of why these questions exist. If you say that you don't plan to commit crimes and then commit one, you have essentially lied on the form. In some cases at least it is way easier for the state to deport someone if they lie on their immigration form. But if the question wasn't there you would have to go through the whole legal process. On the other hand, if you answer yes to this qu…

Why would it be easier to deport someone for lying on a form rather than for being a terrorist?

Re: What not to write on your security clearance form (1988)

#110

Post by wnkrshm »

ahtihn wrote: post #89
wnkrshm wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They will investigate your background, whether you have any ties to family abroad by which you could be blackmailed etc. An acquaintance of mine (from East-Germany) had a US boyfriend who started to work for Lockheed - in the interview he was asked "Why doesn't your Eat-German girlfriend answer her phone?". She said she got some calls from an unknown number and didn't pick up. Edit: I meant Eastern Germany, after uni…

How did she know the call was from an unknown number as a normal person in East Germany in the 80s or earlier? (Ie when it was still called East Germany)

I should have written Eastern Germany, it was long after unification and there were smart phones involved (but in the US security apparatus, Eastern Germany may still be suspect).
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