Employee screening or blacklisting?

To many U.S. companies, the trend of offshore outsourcing is usually associated with cost savings. But a related labor practice in India may herald another trend for American business in employee security checks.

Addressing concerns about the handling of sensitive information, India's information technology industry is creating a database of personal and professional information about its workforce to confirm credentials and, if necessary, help police in any investigations. Similar ideas have been floated occasionally in the United States, most recently in the , but is typically met with immediate protest by privacy advocates and other who liken the practice to blacklisting.

Yet in an age when potential employees can face scrutiny on everything from drug usage to possible terrorist links, such databases may not be the kind of political anathema they have been in years past.

Blog community response:

"While dealing offshore, one can find lots of security gaps. Your information can be easily misused by any one. There are lots of companies who are in a rush to cut the overall costs of the project, but they are really creating the challenges about the accountabilities."
--software-outsourcing

"Ensuring effective security methods require a combination of Integrity, Availability, and Confidentiality with robust Compliance framework and monitoring system. It needs consistent enforcement with reasonable oversight, awareness and continuous training on the part of the management. Information security is a journey not a destination."
--TCP BPO

"Database searches (data purchased from primary source and re-sold to end users) have come under increasing scrutiny and regulation by the federal government. The feds know what we have known for years: databases are inherently inaccurate in some critical ways."
--Safe Schools, Businesses, and Communities