Thursday’s Federal Register require agencies to ensure that any form of government-furnished ID provided to a contractor be returned as soon as the card is no longer needed to perform the contract work, or as soon as the contract is complete—whichever happens first.
The new rule will also allow agencies to withhold final payment to a vendor who fails to return all the cards issued to workers who need them as part of a contract.
Thanks to James for sending me this. This is a good thing because back in the day the government and the companies really never cared about securing these things. Guys that would jump contract or resign would just hang on to their CAC cards and take them to the next gig. Some companies would ask if you already had a CAC card and this would actually make you more marketable as a security contractor. So folks would keep their cards for that reason, or for using it back home at a local base to buy stuff.
But then over the last couple of years the CAC card had to be sponsored by a company to be good. So if a contractor had one, but they were not recognized as being with any company, then the thing was no good in the system. Although it still could be used to get into DFACs or whatever because no one scanned them. It was just show your card and go.
Now you need that card for everything and it is scanned at DFACs and elsewhere. There seems to be more accountability with the companies and their handling of the CAC cards as well. Many companies now require you to turn in your CAC card at the end of contract. (Or when you are fired, if you resigned, or when you go on leave). And if you read the above quote, you can understand why the companies want that little piece of plastic back. –Matt
DoD, GSA tighten standards on contractor IDs
December 30, 2010
By Jared Serbu
The government is tightening regulations on microchip-embedded IDs issued to contractors in an effort to ensure that the smart cards don’t stay in the hands of private vendors when they no longer have a justifiable need for access to government facilities or networks.
New rules developed by the General Services Administration, the Defense Department and NASA for publication in Thursday’s Federal Register require agencies to ensure that any form of government-furnished ID provided to a contractor be returned as soon as the card is no longer needed to perform the contract work, or as soon as the contract is complete—whichever happens first.
The new rule will also allow agencies to withhold final payment to a vendor who fails to return all the cards issued to workers who need them as part of a contract. The measure is intended to correct problems identified in a 2008 Department of Defense Inspector General’s report, which found that DoD lacked procedures to ensure that Common Access Cards (CACs) issued to contractors were deactivated and reclaimed by the government when vendor employees no longer had a legitimate need for them.
The current generation of CACs are DoD’s implementation of Personal Identity Verification or HSPD-12 cards. The 2008 IG report found that even when the access privileges associated with DoD’s CAC cards were revoked, 38 percent of those canceled cards were never accounted for by the government, and that DoD sponsors for the contractor cards frequently “had inadequate evidence to link contractors to a contract or justify a CAC expiration date.”
Story here.