How Important is Personal Information?

On a scale of importance, where would you rank the following: taxpayer personal information, plans for weapons systems, pre-decisional legal or enforcement deliberations, names of informants in this or other countries, results of drug trials, pre-award procurement information, blueprints of government facilities, schedules of surprise enforcement actions (immigration, food safety, etc.), unpublished minutes of the Federal Reserve Board Open Market Committee, and official travel schedules of government officials in countries with active terrorist cells?

Because I am a government annuitant and a participant in various federal health benefit programs, you can bet I am concerned that the Office of Personnel Management and its contractors maintain the highest standards in protecting personal, banking, and health information about me and my family. But it is clear to me that other government information is worthy of even higher standards of protection.

Apparently, in FedWorld, personal information must be far more important than any other type of data, because protection of personal information appears to be the sole focus of attempts to “fix” the Federal Information Security management Act (FISMA).

Then I remember that none of the other information types vote, so every elected official is elbowing others on the way to the microphone to proclaim his dedication to privacy principles … and the Office of Management and Budget is standing in line at the microphone to announce a new reporting requirement.

Billy Graham used to have a fellow who traveled everywhere with him whose sole responsibility was to detect when the Rev. Graham was getting carried away with himself or his mission and yell "bullsh**." I believe the U.S. government needs just such a person to keep the legislative and executive branches focused on protecting our most precious assets (including information). I would volunteer but the ceaseless shouting would be more than my aged body could stand.