New job wants my passport details, plus my family's!
Discussion
megaphone said:
+1. People are very naive. These are the same people who moan when their accounts been hacked or the credit rating is shot to bits. The same people who complain when phone contracts are taken out in their name.
Obviously, this is exactly what your employer's HR department were going to do with your details.Trabi601 said:
megaphone said:
+1. People are very naive. These are the same people who moan when their accounts been hacked or the credit rating is shot to bits. The same people who complain when phone contracts are taken out in their name.
Obviously, this is exactly what your employer's HR department were going to do with your details.It's amazing how trusting people are of others simply because the person works in a certain role. Many of the biggest fraudsters that are doing time today worked in positions of trust of authority.
megaphone said:
Old Tyke said:
Makes you wonder if we've become a nation of 'yes men' conformists when you read all the replies above stating that they'd just hand over all their family members' personal details so willingly and without question. Then at a later date they'll be writing posts in SPL forum asking how to get rid of the bailiffs at the door who want paying £100k for a bunch of debts they know nothing about.
richie99 said:
If the OP doesn't trust his prospective employer with the information they have asked for then I would suggest he has bigger problems than showing them his wife's passport. Are you planning to work for a company known for committing identity theft and fraud? My employer wants to know for a number of reasons; health insurance (already discounted), life insurance, pension among them.
Mine wanted that kind of stuff for all the reasons mentioned above - but also to check out if I could be open to corrupt activities.If my wife had been a Greenpeace member, I suspect the job offer would have been withdrawn, for example.
richie99 said:
megaphone said:
Old Tyke said:
Makes you wonder if we've become a nation of 'yes men' conformists when you read all the replies above stating that they'd just hand over all their family members' personal details so willingly and without question. Then at a later date they'll be writing posts in SPL forum asking how to get rid of the bailiffs at the door who want paying £100k for a bunch of debts they know nothing about.
swerni said:
Old Tyke said:
So where does it stop? If they also required you to provide passport, driving licence, birth certificate, proof of all your bank accounts and last 12 months statements, credit report, all social media accounts and log in details for yourself and all your family members, would you willingly hand all those over too? What about your medical history, what type of underwear you wear and how often you change it as well? Maybe agree to let them install live CCTV in all your rooms too to make sure you haven't missed out anything? Because you've "nothing to hide" right?
As long as their paying enough.
richie99 said:
If the OP doesn't trust his prospective employer with the information they have asked for then I would suggest he has bigger problems than showing them his wife's passport. Are you planning to work for a company known for committing identity theft and fraud? My employer wants to know for a number of reasons; health insurance (already discounted), life insurance, pension among them.
Hi, as explained above, the request was a mistake by the company's HR department, so my original question is a bit irrelevant now. Also, as this is a pretty well established and regarded company (and ironically I've had to sign all sorts of anti-corruption, data protection and other screening forms and statements as part of starting the role - so the processes are there), I wouldn't have an issue providing this info if it was for a valid reason. In my understanding of the Data Protection laws, requesting and retaining information needs to be relevant and not excessive - I felt it was both of those, queried it and it was confirmed not required. Old Tyke said:
So where does it stop? If they also required you to provide passport, driving licence, birth certificate, proof of all your bank accounts and last 12 months statements, credit report, all social media accounts and log in details for yourself and all your family members, would you willingly hand all those over too? What about your medical history, what type of underwear you wear and how often you change it as well? Maybe agree to let them install live CCTV in all your rooms too to make sure you haven't missed out anything? Because you've "nothing to hide" right?
It stops at the point of becoming unreasonable such as from your 12 months bank statements onwards. For anyone to request, store and use date there has to be a legitimate reason for it. If you are not willing to give an employer or a bank etc copies of your birth certificate/passport/driving licence/ utility bills etc because of misuse fears then you will remove yourself from being able to get a job, get a mortgage, buy anything on credit etc. The number of data leaks and misuse that is not covered so you are out of pocket vs the number of transactions is tiny and the risk minimal. Old Tyke said:
richie99 said:
megaphone said:
Old Tyke said:
Makes you wonder if we've become a nation of 'yes men' conformists when you read all the replies above stating that they'd just hand over all their family members' personal details so willingly and without question. Then at a later date they'll be writing posts in SPL forum asking how to get rid of the bailiffs at the door who want paying £100k for a bunch of debts they know nothing about.
In all seriousness you need to get a grip on perspective. You are (I assume) happy to carry a device around in your pocket that tracks your every movement, but you won't show your child's passport to a prospective employer?
If I were an employer I would ask to see family passports just to weed out the conspiracy loons!
98elise said:
...
In all seriousness you need to get a grip on perspective. You are (I assume) happy to carry a device around in your pocket that tracks your every movement, but you won't show your child's passport to a prospective employer?
If I were an employer I would ask to see family passports just to weed out the conspiracy loons!
Ha! Well said.In all seriousness you need to get a grip on perspective. You are (I assume) happy to carry a device around in your pocket that tracks your every movement, but you won't show your child's passport to a prospective employer?
If I were an employer I would ask to see family passports just to weed out the conspiracy loons!
There is far too much OMGPRIVACY paranoia on subjects such as this. Next we will have people on PH blanking out pictures of their car's numberplates. Oh ....
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 29th March 20:50
Breadvan72 said:
Ha! Well said.
There is far tp much OMGPRIVACY paranoia on subjects such as this. Next we will have people on PH blanking out pictures of their car's numberplates. Oh ....
Sadly, all this data protection stuff really gets in the way of some potentially brilliant stuff being done to the benefit of all as well.There is far tp much OMGPRIVACY paranoia on subjects such as this. Next we will have people on PH blanking out pictures of their car's numberplates. Oh ....
As an example, I spent time working on an NHS pilot project last year which has the potential to enhance the lives of tens of thousands of patients in the pilot phase alone whilst also saving the NHS large amounts of cash, but the headaches involved in getting the thing up and running whilst respecting all the data privacy regulations are horrendous.
Meanwhile, all the tinfoil hat brigade who demand that their privacy be protected sign away said privacy to the likes of Facebook and Google without giving it a second thought because they want to see pics of their mates/kids/grandparents/funny cats or whatever else keeps them entertained when they're supposed to be working.
Data protection legislation is widely misunderstood and misapplied. People sometimes think that it means that you can't use any info about anyone. Things may get better, or maybe worse, when the UK implements the most recent EU data directive, which, despite Brexit, the UK may still do*. Or if not, the UK, or whatever may be left of it post Brexit, will probably introduce some new rules. Trump, meanwhile, has just repealed a bunch of data rules that sought to control the monetisation of personal info by the net players.
* Many people seem not to realise that there may be just as much if not more blah post Brexit than there is now.
* Many people seem not to realise that there may be just as much if not more blah post Brexit than there is now.
Yes, we can still be ruled by faceless suits, but they will be our faceless suits, so hoorah for John Bull(sh*t) and roast beef (if we can afford any meat at all).
I lazily referred to a new Data Directive, but in fact it's a Regulation, and due into force next year, unless the Great Repeal Bill says otherwise, but that may be unlikely.
I lazily referred to a new Data Directive, but in fact it's a Regulation, and due into force next year, unless the Great Repeal Bill says otherwise, but that may be unlikely.
98elise said:
If you have a job that requires SC or DV security clearance then that a pretty accurate list
In all seriousness you need to get a grip on perspective. You are (I assume) happy to carry a device around in your pocket that tracks your every movement, but you won't show your child's passport to a prospective employer?
Perhaps it is you that needs to get a grip on perspective. It's clear you see no issue on handing over all your personal and financial details to whoever asks for them which is entirely your prerogative. Personally I would chose not to unless a very good reason is given, not because I'm some conspiracy fruit loop that drives down back roads to avoid ANPR cameras and switch my phone off and take the battery out to avoid "the elite" tracking my movements, but simply because I've seen what happens to people's lives that do get their identity and credentials stolen and the complete lack of interest from the authorities and financial institutions in sorting out the mess that follows. You can argue that statistically it's a small risk, but it's still a risk and one that will cause you a great deal of aggro if the person/department requiring said info is not as trustworthy as you thought.In all seriousness you need to get a grip on perspective. You are (I assume) happy to carry a device around in your pocket that tracks your every movement, but you won't show your child's passport to a prospective employer?
Would I risk a job offer by not pandering to their demands for my children's passports and credentials without a good reason given? Yes, absolutely.
Old Tyke said:
You can argue that statistically it's a small risk, but it's still a risk and one that will cause you a great deal of aggro if the person/department requiring said info is not as trustworthy as you thought.
Would I risk a job offer by not pandering to their demands for my children's passports and credentials without a good reason given? Yes, absolutely.
Everyone has a different tolerance of risk. We all risk plan in our heads on the hoof much in the same way that organisations running projects risk plan. The difference is that organisations score their risks and only bother avoiding or mitigating the most likely risks that will have a high impact. Would I risk a job offer by not pandering to their demands for my children's passports and credentials without a good reason given? Yes, absolutely.
The statistical chance of your identity being cloned is tiny. Five minutes on the internet with just someone's name and city they live in will get you their address if you know where to look. It's not long from there to get a birth date and then all of a sudden showing an employer your child's passport suddenly seems very risk limited.
I used to work with someone who was so paranoid of cloning and "the man" that he would take all of his cigarette butts home and burn them fearing if he put one in a public ashtray the authorities would get his DNA. There appear to be an inordinate amount of such people here where paranoia and OCD reign.
craigjm said:
Everyone has a different tolerance of risk. We all risk plan in our heads on the hoof much in the same way that organisations running projects risk plan. The difference is that organisations score their risks and only bother avoiding or mitigating the most likely risks that will have a high impact.
The statistical chance of your identity being cloned is tiny. Five minutes on the internet with just someone's name and city they live in will get you their address if you know where to look. It's not long from there to get a birth date and then all of a sudden showing an employer your child's passport suddenly seems very risk limited.
I used to work with someone who was so paranoid of cloning and "the man" that he would take all of his cigarette butts home and burn them fearing if he put one in a public ashtray the authorities would get his DNA. There appear to be an inordinate amount of such people here where paranoia and OCD reign.
Given the ever increasing personal data collection by everyone and their brother that has no genuine requirement for it, I'd say it's absolutely the right thing to do to be as protective of your personal data as possible. The more people that have access to it, the greater the risk of it falling into the wrong hands. If that doesn't concern you because, well, it's never happened to you thus far so it must be alright, then as I said above, that's your prerogative, but don't go calling people tinfoil hatter conspiracy nut jobs because they have a different risk barrier level to you.The statistical chance of your identity being cloned is tiny. Five minutes on the internet with just someone's name and city they live in will get you their address if you know where to look. It's not long from there to get a birth date and then all of a sudden showing an employer your child's passport suddenly seems very risk limited.
I used to work with someone who was so paranoid of cloning and "the man" that he would take all of his cigarette butts home and burn them fearing if he put one in a public ashtray the authorities would get his DNA. There appear to be an inordinate amount of such people here where paranoia and OCD reign.
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