[IP] Re: Security clearances, lie detectors, etc.

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Seconded djf


________________________________________
From: David P. Reed [dpreed@reed.com]
Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 11:22 AM
To: David Farber
Cc: ip
Subject: Re: [IP] Security clearances, lie detectors, etc.

I wonder if it's worth asking a deeper question here:

What evidence do we have that Security Clearances themselves actually
work? And for that matter is there a well-understood and clear
definition of what a Security Clearance is supposed to achieve?

This question has been asked for so-called "lie detectors", which have
no accepted scientific validity for broad-spectrum discrimination of
falsehoods.

I spent a day last week with representatives of the FBI and ICE
concerned with implementing the legal requirements related to foreign
nationals on campus, such as "deemed export".   The biggest current
debate in "deemed export" implementation seems to be whether they are
allowed to take into account "country of birth" rather than "country of
current citizenship and residence" in deciding when a "deemed export"
happens when a foreign student uses a device that incorporates
export-controlled technology (merely using a supercomputer or a using an
advanced thermal imaging instrument is deemed to require an export
license to the countries that user is affiliated with).

Ignoring the workability of deemed export rules, one can construct a
case that some student born in Iran might have been deliberately raised
in, and given Canadian citizenship merely as a ruse to steal US's
advanced technology, right?

As a US citizen who values my country's survival, I think it's terribly
important to hold the "security clearance" and other "vetting" processes
accountable and reliable.  Thus, perhaps we need to think about this as
a scientific question.   Are there any peer-reviewed xtudies that show
that such vetting procedures actually detect spies and prevent bombs
from being built?

I suspect that the goal is to channel people who like to express
prejudices in their jobs.  It can be fun to screw "others", right -
especially when the whole society has a lot of hate for Chinese and
Arabic people.


-------------------------------------------