> Perhaps this is what he meant. That spouses would due to proximity know
> about certain activities, if not details. I am aware that spouses have
> background checks done as well when security clearence is being undertaken.
>
> He is not the bs type my friend.
No, that’s not classified information that the spouse knows. It’s unclassified but sensitive information. Classified information might, for instance, be the fact that a given military unit is being deployed on a certain day. Sensitive information might be, for instance, that one’s spouse is going to be away for a week for some military purpose. If you collect enough sensitive information, you might be able to guess something about a classified matter. For that reason, a military person might be told that they can tell their spouse that they will be away for a week, but they can’t tell anyone else, and their spouse should keep quiet too.
Have you ever considered the possibility that your friend is simply making up his story that he handled classified information? People do such things. People also falsely claim to have combat experience in the military and to be a spy. We’ve had threads on the SDMB where we pulled apart such stories.
Not a whoosh at all; I knew exactly what he meant.
Sure, if you leave it around unattended. I alluded to that in my post; you’re not going to leave your brain laying around for somebody to break into your house, nor are you going to leave it in a briefcase where somebody can steal it on the subway. At least, I hope not!
Perhaps not; however, for some programs that require SAP/SAR clearances, the clearance holders are actually required to notify the cognizant agency when undergoing any medical procedure involving general anesthesia. In general holders of security clearances on all levels are required to report to their employer or to DSS foreign travel or contact with foreign nationals if any job-related topics are discussed. Enforcement of this is no doubt somewhat spotty, but there is even a concern about the information stored in brains…even when it is decades old. (The developers of the Colossus computing system–the first digital computing system, used to break German codes during WWII–were not allowed to speak of or request patents on their work into the 1970s despite the fact that computing technology had long surpassed Colossus.)
I don’t know of AK84’s friend, but I do know that there are plenty of people who hold security clearances but don’t understand the regulations and requirements, much to the ire of Information Security Officers. I do know that there is no exception for spouses.
A lot of ‘classified’ information is judged so not on the basis of the information itself but the context in which it is placed, or how it is verified. In other words, it might be perfectly legitimate for a newspaper to publish information on the construction of nuclear weapons, but it would be a violation for a nuclear weapon designer to confirm or even comment on details of the construction which he knows to be classified. One disjoint number might be itself unclassified, but in combination with other data may be considered classified. In general, when handling classified information, the rule is “No comment,” to anyone without need-to-know, even if it is just a report on the color of Vladimir Putin’s underwear.
Which is the purpose of the asking the question! My friend however as I said is not really the kind to make things up, but what he said seemed incredible to me. Which is why I asked and also speculated that I misunderstood him.
