A summary of an article describing some of the effects of Edward Snowden's revelations on the process of performing Background Investigations (BI) into prospective US-government staff.

1. Case study: Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden, in trying
to raise public awareness of
the pervasive nature of the
US government’s
surveillance programs,
inadvertently triggered calls
for more surveillance, not
less.

2. How so?

3. In releasing classified US-government documents to the media,
he became living proof (at least in the government’s view) that
the background checks government agencies do into
prospective employees must have been inadequate, or he
wouldn’t have done what he did.

4. The government assumes they can predict behaviour based on
what they’ve found out about a person:
Curiously, the US government is not allowed to use internet searches in conducting background
checks on applicants. This is set to change by 2020.
More accurate
predictions
Less risk of someone going
rogue with government info.
More info

5. This approach fails to acknowledge that a person is always more
complex than what aggregated data can show about them.
Source: Young, S 2017, ‘Slipping Through the Cracks: Background Investigations after Snowden’,
Surveillance & Society, 15(1): 123-136.
Camera image on slide 1: Microsoft Clip Art.