On the current NSA uproar: There are few things more ridiculous than the way the Feds classify and protect information. I had a Top Secret clearance for 23 years and no classified information ever landed on or near my desk. That clearance had absolutely nothing to do with the kind of work I did. I had to have it because I had "access" by virtue of the fact that my normal duties as a Computer Specialist required me to be able to enter and move about freely in buildings where Top Secret information could be found. Whether it was likely that I would ever lay eyes upon such was irrelevant. Thing is, when I worked for USAID I needed unfettered access to the Department of State and I did come across Top Secret documents on a fairly regular basis. They were sitting both the IN and Out boxes of the internal mail system with routing slips affixed in the frequently unattended outer offices of various officials. Sometimes, those boxes were placed near the door for the convenience of the carriers who could thus pick them up or drop them off without taking more than a single step inside. Had I wished to do so, I could have regularly cruised through the basement and first three floors of the building collecting stuff and walking out with it without being noticed. And so could thousands of others...
Posted on: Tue, 11 Jun 2013 04:24:36 +0000
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