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Meet Bob. Bob got a job working on a random system through an NSA subcontractor. After several weeks on the job, and having gone through rigorous training, Bob
by bennyg 13y ago
Meet Bob. Bob got a job working on a random system through an NSA subcontractor. After several weeks on the job, and having gone through rigorous training, Bob was starting to feel uneasy with the work requirements and amount of details he knew. Bob had a TopSecret clearance however, and couldn't tell anyone - not even his wife. After a few more weeks, he decided to try his luck at another employer. Bob was damn good too, one of the best in his field - he was guaranteed a job anywhere for competitive pay.
Except word got out about Bob's employer - and specifically the subsystems Bob was responsible for implementing. After the negative press, the NSA didn't renew Bob's company's contract which forced said company to let Bob go. That's okay, Bob thought, he had enough experience in the field, right? Everywhere Bob looked was disgusted at his previous job and the moral choices his superiors' superiors made. But they took it out on Bob. Bob was never offered a job anywhere for close to the amount of money and psychological income he had at his former job.
Must suck to be Bob.
- crazygringo 13y agoGreat illustration of a great point.
- gcb0 13y agoI wouldn't hire Bob because he's the kind of person that does not clean up after a mistake, instead try to pretend it is not in his powers and move on to let other people fix it. I would never like a person like this in my team. I would hire bob snowden, or Bob manning though.
- robryan 13y agoWhat is Bob meant to do in this case? The program certainly isn't going to be shut down because an employee at a contractor has some objections.
- mhurron 13y agoWell Bob didn't feel the need to act on his supposed objections so I guess it wasn't that objectionable to him. Kinda says a lot about Bob. Not that this is a real situation anyway. The majority of the US agree with these programs.
- peterkelly 13y agoThis is like saying that a government isn't going to change just because of your one vote. It is incumbent upon all people working in our industry to make an ethical judgement about the projects they are working on, and decide whether or not they are comfortable with what is being done. If you find the work to be wrong, you don't have to risk your life by leaking info, but you can still leave the job. If enough people started having a conscience and didn't just take the "I'm just here for the money, I'll do whatever I'm told" attitude, then organisations running unethical programs will have difficulty retaining good staff.
- robryan 13y agoI took the story as Bob leaving because of being uneasy with what the job entailed. My comment was more saying leaving a position he found morally objectionable is the most he can do in this case.
- iskander 13y ago>After several weeks on the job...Bob had a TopSecret clearance. Top Secret clearance usually takes a few months. I'm comfortable with a world in which someone who worked for an NSA subcontractor for several months being stuck with menial employment for the rest of their days. Sometimes it pays to have ethics.
- Balgair 13y agoMy brother got a TS. It took him about a year to get the thing. He had no clue what the TS part of the company was like before 'stepping through the rabbit-hole.' He worked at the job just fine for a few years. One day, he said he knew he had to look for other work. It took him a few months to find a way to leave. Eventually, he just quit without any job at all. He has a job now, not nearly as glamorous but he is employed. Just because they work for a contractor for the NSA, or they have a TS or S or Q clearance, doesn't mean they are not very smart and hard working. Hell, you know they went through the ringer to prove they are trustworthy and loyal. Because they wanted to help out all of us here in the US and then they felt they could no longer, that does NOT mean they should be punished. What did they themselves do wrong? Besides, this is ONE program the NSA runs. Mostly likely the majority of the TS cleared people out there have nothing to do with all this stuff. Those people do make a lot of sacrifices for their job and for the US. A lot are multiply divorced because of the stress, the secrecy, and the unpredictability of the job. "Hey Sugar, gotta go. I can't tell you where, for how long, or if I will be safe, or talk about a really traumatizing experience afterwards so I'll drink hard liquor quietly on the back porch a lot. Pick the kids up at basketball, will yah?"
- peterkelly 13y ago> "Hey Sugar, gotta go. I can't tell you where, for how long, or if I will be safe, or talk about a really traumatizing experience afterwards so I'll drink hard liquor quietly on the back porch a lot. Pick the kids up at basketball, will yah?" In addition to the potential ethical issues, this is the second reason why I made the decision not to get involved with classified work (the majority of IT jobs in my hometown are at defence contractors). I simply couldn't handle not being able to talk to my family and friends about my work - especially if there were things that were causing me stress on the job.
- peterkelly 13y agoIf I were interviewing Bob, and he told me that he left because he felt morally uncomfortable with the job, he would earn considerable respect from me. In this case, it would not be a barrier to hiring, and in fact I would be glad to have someone on staff who is principled in such a manner.
- rmc 13y ago"You can't quit, No-one else will hire you, you're poisoned for good now, you might as well do all the grey-ethical stuff now" could be the new line for manipulative slimey NSA managers to use against their employees now.