Recently, a US senior official confirmed that the intimate details of a number of government workers were stolen by hackers working for or with China. The details stolen include prior arrests, sexual partners, substance abuse information and even marital problems associated with contracted workers who have had background checks conducted in order to work with the United States government. So what could hackers want with his information and why is the government collecting that data anyway?

Background Checks – More Than Just Fingerprinting

Background checks are nothing new and many of us have had them done in order to get a certain job or volunteer with specific organizations. In fact, some people run background checks on others before they decide to date. These checks can tell us if someone is a convicted felon or if they have a history of being unstable in the past.

The checks done by the U.S. government, however, are on a whole other level. The background information the government collects covers a wide range of information including normal things like debt or past convictions but it also includes truly personal information like how many sexual partners a person has had and the details of friends, family and people who know you well.

This information is collected on all contracted government workers through the use of Standard Form 86, a 127 page document that covers just about everything you could think to ask about a person. The government uses this to evaluate workers in order to determine if they are a security risk and to assess how reliable they will be.

Once the form is submitted, the details are put into a database where they are meant to be safeguarded. In the summer of 2015, that database was hacked and now US officials believe the details of an undisclosed number of workers have found their way into the hands of Chinese spies.

How Sex and Dirty Laundry are Used in International Spying

The form filled out by contracted workers is divided into over 30 separate sections which covers everything from details on past marriages or “co-habitations” to how frequently a person drinks, whether they’ve used controlled substances in the past, a history f their mental and emotional well-being and even whether or not they’ve watched pirated movies.

Needless to say, by the time a person has finished filling out the form, anyone reading would know them pretty thoroughly and could, if they wanted, blackmail them with what they know. That’s the danger some experts are now concerned about in this latest breach.

Michael Adams, an expert in computer security has more than two decades of experience with the US Special Operations Command was interviewed about the breach and agreed that anyone who has access to the information “is going to have clear knowledge … about who the best targets for espionage are in the United States.” This means spies could target specific individuals and apply pressure to offer aid or assistance under the threat of being exposed.

So what does this mean for the rest of us? Well it could mean that the line between public and private information is becoming even more blurred than ever before. It also highlights how susceptible we all can be to the type of blackmail normally reserved for soap opera story lines. At the same time, it shows just how sensitive our personal and sexual lives can be since many agree that it’s the sexual issues most likely to be exploited. AT the end of the day, the old adage about ‘sex sells’ remains as true as ever and this latest breach is sure to drive that point home on the global stage.