Young Eagles and Background Security Checks

[dougbush]

So no, I'm not impressed with a *private* company trying to accrue the same information.

Strange that some of you think a private company must be less secure even after the government let hackers have your data.

[rwanttaja]

Strange that some of you think a private company must be less secure even after the government let hackers have your data.

Actually, the breach last year *was* a private company...under contract to the government. The government then terminated the contract for cause.

Ron Wanttaja

[WillR]

It is sad times we are living in.

I heard from a friend regarding this issue and was told that both his YE Coordinator and chapter president resigned over this issue.

My question is, why not allow an alternate means of compliance? ie. Why can't I show my CWP (CCW, CCP, etc.) to give rides? That proves I passed a background check.

As for me, I an a long time IT guy and no way is the EAA getting my SSN for all the reasons listed above. Heck, I do NOT like the fact that my insurance company has my SSN!

[Jeff Point]

Is it possible to form a group of folks interested in taking this on with wherever this came from, and having a meeting with them? I'd be more than happy to help.

Anything is possible, however I'm afraid that genie is out of the bottle now. HQ was warned in advance and was well aware that this would be the likely reaction, and they chose to do this anyway. That's why I would really like to hear their rationale. I'm trying hard to give them the benefit of doubt. Perhaps their insurance company said they need to do this or lose the YE insurance coverage? That's just a wild guess, not based on any information, but it could be one rational explanation. We need to hear it from them, and soon, before this thing snowballs even further.

[FlyingRon]

Your CCW doesn't show that you have no criminal history, at least not in the two states I hold them in. It shows you aren't a felon and don't have a DV conviction or in the case of Virginia MULTIPLE class 1 misdemeanors. "Sexual abuse of a person under 15" only rises to the level of misdemeanor here. You could still have a CHP with one of those.

My problem isn't so much with the background checks and training (though I think they are really going to screw up the operation of a lot of the rally's where other than pilots, it's getting pretty damn hard to find any volunteers let alone vetted ones), it's just a sign of the time.

The big issue is EAA's dumping this policy on the volunteers with a completely half-assed implementation. The training program appears BUSTED. I completed it but it gave me some obtuse error about not being able to save my results and the use of a completely dubious provider with a suspicious and unverifiable web form asking for sensitive information is the problem.

I can't even go further both my course and the background check are wedged in EAA la la land. Apparently, nobody developing serious web applications (ran into the same problem at the drone registry) can freaking spell TEST anymore.

[ssmdive]

My guess is that most of those saying they will "still give rides to kids" won't give rides to kids. My experience with Young Eagles is that they have an organized event at such local events as my home base airport Open House. Free rides are advertised, and literally hundreds of kids from the community and their parents show up line up for a ride. That's what's going to die if YE dies. But, to each their own.

If Young Eagles dies over this.... It will be classified as a suicide.

[Jim Rosenow]

Would logic indicate that, given the large number of children on the grounds at AirVenture, similar background checks should be required for all volunteers there? KidVenture jumps out as one of the most obvious venues. Just sayin'......

Jim

[Byron J. Covey]

actually, i would like to see every member bail on young eagles. Not because i want to see the young eagles program die. But instead, to save it from this sort of bureaucratic nonsense. Call it a strike if you wish. But if every ye pilot told the eaa to stuff it unless they drop this silliness, the eaa would have to choose between the pilots and their lawyers. If they want the program to continue, they send out a letter of apology and continue on as they have. It's not the pilots, but the eaa leadership that is willing to kill the program.

As for me, i have held high level security clearances for my employment for the last 42 years. In return, the chinese now have more information about me and my family than i could quote off the top of my head. So the eaa wants me to submit the same data to an unknown entity to perform a background check in order to volunteer to share what i love to do. No thanks. I was taking kids for rides long before the eaa ever cooked up the young eagles program. Their $1m additional liability insurance isn't worth what i have to give up to participate. So i'll return to what i was doing before there was an eaa program. I'll haul kids that are interested in flying for free, any time they want, without the constraints of the eaa programs.

What this move tells me is that the eaa has been working too much with the government and much like the government, is now being run by the lawyers. So this former chapter president, former flight advisor, former tech counselor, and now former proponent of young eagles, will take yet another step back away from the eaa and their lawyers. I will be introducing a motion for our chapter to suspend any further ye chapter events until the eaa can get their heads on straight again.

-cub builder

+1


bjc

[martymayes]

Would logic indicate that, given the large number of children on the grounds at AirVenture, similar background checks should be required for all volunteers there? KidVenture jumps out as one of the most obvious venues. Just sayin'......

Careful what you wish for......

[Jim Rosenow]

Careful what you wish for......

Not 'wish for', Marty. Hope to avoid thru the strenuous application of logic.... YE vetting impacts us... AirVenture vetting affects EAA 'corporate' bottom line.

Jim