The Special Agents are watching

Yesterday, a Special Agent from the security office of a federal agency dropped by the office to see me. I was in a meeting, so he left his card with the receptionist. The same agent had left me a voicemail the previous morning. He needed to interview me about one of the authors I work with. This particular author is being considered for a position with the agency that requires a certain level of security clearance, thus the background check.

I hadn't returned the call immediately, because the whole thing was a little out of the ordinary and I wanted a chance to speak with the author to make sure it was okay for me to release his information. The author confirmed that I should speak freely, so when the receptionist presented me with the business card I quickly called the special agent back.

After about a half hour of phone tag, he caught me on the phone and said he was still in the area and would like to come in and speak with me. I told him we could meet and within five minutes he was waiting for me in the lobby. I had just enough time to grab some files and move the moldy coffee mugs off my desk.

The Special Agent was wearing a suit, as you might expect, but there were no dark glasses or ear piece. He was extremely considerate and professional. He showed me his ID badge, explained several federal laws regarding such investigations, and let me make copies of the waiver forms the author had signed. The majority of the questions he asked me were the sort of thing you'd expect from someone working on a character assessment of this nature. Nothing too surprising.

The disconcerting part was when he looked at me and said, "So, I understand that you're leaving the country soon." My upcoming trip had not been revealed in our conversation. My confusion must have been reflected in my expression, because he then let me know that he had also done a little research on me -- in order to facilitate his investigation. In fact, part of his research was reading this blog.

There's a lesson here, and the lesson is this: if you blog, don't forget that your blog is a public document. Don't assume that only your friends read it, or that the general public isn't interested in you, your opinions, or what you may choose to write about. More people have read my blog than I realize, and they're not just the general public. They're Special Agents of the federal government.