OMEN
01-17-2008, 10:47 AM
Smart-card credentialing program raises serious privacy issues, notes Ninth Circuit
The Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit last week extended an injunction against NASA that temporarily prevents it from requiring certain contractors to submit to a new background check process as part of a mandatory smart card credentialing program.
In arriving at its decision, a three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit noted that the background check process raised serious privacy issues and was far too broad in scope to meet any legitimate government need. It ruled that 28 contractors who had sued NASA in Los Angeles District Court last August over the background checks did not need to submit to those checks for the duration of the court proceedings. The latest injunction extends one that was issued by the Ninth Circuit Court in early October, after the district court hearing the case rejected their request.
The 28 contractors are all senior scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is staffed and managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
The group filed suit last year against the U.S. government, NASA and Caltech, challenging what they claimed were overly intrusive background check requirements by NASA. The contractors asked the court to not only force NASA to permanently stop the background investigations but to also issue a preliminary injunction to halt the checks while the case was considered.
NASA had required the checks under the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 of August 2004, a presidentially mandated smart-card credential program. HSPD-12 requires federal agencies to issue new tamper-proof smart-card identity credentials called Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards to all employees and contractors. As part of the program, all employees and contractors are required to submit to comprehensive background checks, including criminal histories. Those who did not submit to the checks were faced with termination.
The 28 contractors, many of whom have worked for JPL for decades, had argued that the checks were unnecessary in their case considering the non-classified, low-security nature of the work they were doing for NASA.
A hearing on a federal motion to dismiss the case had been scheduled for last Friday in LA District Court. The Ninth Circuit's ruling came before that scheduled hearing. "Federal defendants' motion to dismiss was superseded by the Appeals Court ruling, and the case will now go forward in the District Court," a statement posted on the plaintiffs' Web site noted.
The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 15.
Compworld
The Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit last week extended an injunction against NASA that temporarily prevents it from requiring certain contractors to submit to a new background check process as part of a mandatory smart card credentialing program.
In arriving at its decision, a three-judge panel for the Ninth Circuit noted that the background check process raised serious privacy issues and was far too broad in scope to meet any legitimate government need. It ruled that 28 contractors who had sued NASA in Los Angeles District Court last August over the background checks did not need to submit to those checks for the duration of the court proceedings. The latest injunction extends one that was issued by the Ninth Circuit Court in early October, after the district court hearing the case rejected their request.
The 28 contractors are all senior scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which is staffed and managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
The group filed suit last year against the U.S. government, NASA and Caltech, challenging what they claimed were overly intrusive background check requirements by NASA. The contractors asked the court to not only force NASA to permanently stop the background investigations but to also issue a preliminary injunction to halt the checks while the case was considered.
NASA had required the checks under the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 of August 2004, a presidentially mandated smart-card credential program. HSPD-12 requires federal agencies to issue new tamper-proof smart-card identity credentials called Personal Identity Verification (PIV) cards to all employees and contractors. As part of the program, all employees and contractors are required to submit to comprehensive background checks, including criminal histories. Those who did not submit to the checks were faced with termination.
The 28 contractors, many of whom have worked for JPL for decades, had argued that the checks were unnecessary in their case considering the non-classified, low-security nature of the work they were doing for NASA.
A hearing on a federal motion to dismiss the case had been scheduled for last Friday in LA District Court. The Ninth Circuit's ruling came before that scheduled hearing. "Federal defendants' motion to dismiss was superseded by the Appeals Court ruling, and the case will now go forward in the District Court," a statement posted on the plaintiffs' Web site noted.
The next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 15.
Compworld