Oct 19, 2009 at 12:00
I first signed Part I of the Official Secrets Act in Britain when I was at the tender age of sixteen, working during the summer vacation in the Registry Office of the Inland Revenue (the equivalent of the IRS) in Somerset House, London. If there was a Part I, you could certainly deduce that there was a Part II. But I cannot tell you how many Parts there are because I have sworn not to.
Even in 2012 - when the thirty year restriction expires and I will be legally able to speak and write more fully about my career, my involvement with government, and some of the shady sides of life - I will still be forbidden to talk about the Official Secrets Act. The penalties are, let us say, nasty, and I am quite sure those in power would seek me out: even in my little hidey hole in Canada.
Most people do not realize how difficult it is for someone who has done any kind of work that cannot be publicly acknowledged. Do you leave gaps in your resumé, obliquely suggesting to potential employers that there might be jail time there, a major health problem, or incarceration in a mental institution? Or do you invent an employer to fill the gap in dates? Most engineers that I know who have had that problem put the correct (or parent) employer’s name on their paperwork but then have the difficulty of having to say “I can’t talk about that” when asked the question as to what duties did you perform, or what did you design? And you cannot even say why you can’t talk.
Some of my previous colleagues from one particular job have already sold technologies that they worked on at taxpayer expense. I’m not going to be joining them. I have visited prisons: I don’t like them. I intend to stay on the keyhole side of the cell door.
Fast forward to 2009. The departure (“retirement”) of Brian Halla from National Semiconductor last week – grossly overdue – also carries with it all sorts of stories that I cannot talk or write about, because people would lose faith in my commitment to keep their company secrets and hopes exactly that: secret. That phrase "company confidential" is sacrosanct for an Editor in a field where competition is fierce and information is king. But, thanks for the trust…
Posted in acquisitionZONE
