The Foreign Service Journal, January 2013

44 JANUARY 2012 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS Protecting Privacy STATE VP VOICE | BY DANIEL HIRSCH AFSA NEWS Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA State VP. Issues related to privacy are of significant concern to many of our members and to AFSA, as well. While many Americans worry about the possibility of identity theft and other privacy concerns, Foreign Service members face the additional threats of terrorist attack, kidnapping and fraud or theft. Not only do we operate in environ- ments where such crimes are more common than in the U.S., but our role as represen- tatives of the United States makes us targets for those who would attack the Ameri- can government. Privacy, to a large degree, equals security. At the same time, our role as public servants endows our employer—and the Amer- ican public—with the right and responsibility to know certain things about us. The need to make determinations about our qualifications, integrity, trustworthiness and suitability to represent our country requires that some very private informa- tion be shared. Who should know what, to what degree and how will that information be used, stored, shared or disposed of when no longer needed is the concern. Privacy can also be a double-edged sword, pre- venting important informa- tion from being known. A number of very important decisions, such as assign- ment selections, are routinely made about FS members by people who have less access to information than might be desirable. Without access to employee evaluation reports and other data, deciders may rely on a "corridor reputa- tion," which may be untrue, skewed or overly influenced by assumptions. Often, a career event, positive or negative, becomes legend. A person who curtailed from a post for reasons having to do with, let's say, the health of a family member, can be marked by that curtail- ment for years as a problem employee, while a person who did one very visible good thing in an otherwise unremarkable career might still be known as a superstar years later. Protecting privacy can be misused by the department when it wants to control information, or make it more difficult for an employee to appeal a decision. It allows the department to con- trol the official "story" of a particular event and thereby discredits the employee's account. The inordinate length of time it takes for the depart- ment to answer Privacy Act requests often prevents employees from being able to meet the burden of proof in a grievance, and can prevent an employee from being able to present information before a deadline or other event ren- ders it meaningless. Protect- ing privacy can add to the complexity of other issues of interest, such as leveling the playing field for employees with disabilities, ensuring fair treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder sufferers and even sharing with our mem- bers why AFSA takes certain positions on certain issues. AFSA is currently work- ing on the following issues involving privacy: • The Stop Trading in Con- gressional Knowledge Act: The idea behind the STOCK Act is a good one—that the financial dealings of senior officials, or those who spend the government's money, must be transparent and that such officials should not derive personal gain from information they learn by vir- tue of their position. A com- ponent of the act requires, however, that information be posted on the Internet, where it can be accessed by any person of any citizen- ship, anywhere in the world. That component not only potentially harms individuals but, in AFSA's view, carries a very high risk of damaging national security as well. • Ad hoc creation of forms by department elements or posts: 2 FAM 1152 and other regulations govern creation of forms, while 5 FAM 460 and other regula- tions concern privacy. These regulations include clearance processes which answer such privacy questions as whether the information is truly necessary, how it will be stored or retrieved, how it will be shared and how it will be disposed of. When forms are created outside these processes, privacy questions are often not fully explored, creating pockets of personal information that may result in leaks, improprieties or other issues. • Increased use of 360 eval- uations: 360 evaluations are a very good and useful tool for evaluating performance and serve to counterbalance incorrect information in a corridor reputation. However, they may also provide the opportunity to add other incorrect information into the mix, which the employee might never see or be able to address. As the process comes into greater use, we have been concerned about finding ways to keep the pro- cess honest and transparent. • Urging the department to prioritize Freedom of Infor- mation Act and Privacy Act requests from employees, when the information is rel- evant to a matter in dispute between the department and an employee, or to the employee's ability to address allegations against them. • Ensuring transparency and responsible action when personal information is lost, stolen or diverted. The department has significantly improved its posture in this regard, but it is something we continue to monitor closely. n