The U.S. has changed its H-1B record retention policy to the concern of people who study the visa's impact on the workforce and economy.
In a notice posted last week, the U.S. Department of Labor said that records used for labor certification, whether in paper or electronic, "are temporary records and subject to destruction" after five years, under a new policy.
There was no explanation for the change, and it is perplexing to researchers. The records under threat are called Labor Condition Applications (LCA), which identify the H-1B employer, worksite, the prevailing wage, and the wage paid to the worker.
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(Score: 1) by gargoyle on Tuesday October 28 2014, @11:43AM
Unless, someone downloads the complete data set yearly and keeps hold of it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 28 2014, @11:53AM
> Unless, someone downloads the complete data set yearly and keeps hold of it.
AND makes it available for free to anyone on the net
AND makes sure it is easy to find in google, et al.
(Score: 1) by KozmoNaut on Tuesday October 28 2014, @01:52PM
That's why we have Wikileaks, The Piratebay etc. etc.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday October 28 2014, @12:07PM
This is just a move to hide sad story of H-1B..
Otoh, quite easy to thwart. Considering that other authorities has a habit of storing everything. It doesn't make sense any other way than to wipe the slate.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Sir Garlon on Tuesday October 28 2014, @12:44PM
It's interesting how the Federal government doesn't bother deleting data on regular citizens to protect their privacy, but springs right into action when it comes to covering up its interference in the labor market. I guess I'm not surprised, just mildly disgusted.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Tuesday October 28 2014, @02:13PM
Government is just corporate self interest.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Tuesday October 28 2014, @04:01PM
Well, these days it's not about "We The People", it's about "We The People Who Matter". And only those with either a large personal fortune or control of a large quantity of someone else's money matter. And because of that, you now have injustices like corporate bigwigs who commit homicide getting a lesser sentence than poor people with unpaid parking tickets. And of course no punishment at all for money laundering, trillion-dollar frauds, and the many other ways in which the People Who Matter swindle everybody else. In the immortal words of George Carlin: "It's a big club, and you ain't in it."
A lot of this stuff had roots back in the Clinton administration: Both Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan agreed that the right policy to pursue was the "free movement of capital and labor", by which they meant free trade agreements and indentured servant programs like H1B, to increase the desperation of American workers so they would accept lower wages and worse working conditions. These had the desired effects, Ross Perot's giant sucking sound happened more or less exactly as Perot had said it would, and Americans tried to cover up the losses first by skimping on their purchases, then on borrowing against their homes, and then with bankruptcy. This was a bipartisan plan - Bush happily continued what Clinton had started, and Obama has embraced the worst economic policies of both Clinton and Bush.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 28 2014, @05:43PM
Personally I'm a fan of helping other countries grow prosperous through free trade agreements and such. Its pretty fucking selfish to just hoard everything to yourself, or your nation. The real problem is that companies started shipping the work itself, rather than the results of work, off to other countries. That is what killed the American economy, not the idea of sharing prosperity.
(Score: 2) by tathra on Tuesday October 28 2014, @05:36PM
i dont understand how deleting records after 5 years, instead of holding them longer, will hide anything. they're still being retained for 5 years. the only thing i can see thats somewhat distasteful is that federal background checks and such go back 7-10 years minimum, so that should be the retainment period (either that or change background checks to only go back 5 years).
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday October 29 2014, @12:51AM
Those data can show how H-1B has impacted the work market in the long run etc.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 28 2014, @12:46PM
As in don't be daft, no record ever gets destroyed, just moved out of your reach.
(Score: 2) by Blackmoore on Tuesday October 28 2014, @01:59PM
Huh. someone must of nearly got caught abusing the system. I wonder who it was.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 28 2014, @05:50PM
I'm sure you meant to type "must have" or "must've" but slipped up. Please remember to preview next time.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday October 28 2014, @03:41PM
Pretty much. The information isn't gone. It's duplicated from the "All H1" table to the "individual records" one.
Nobody expects ANY government to erase the records of having given a visa to a person. It doesn't take an NSA-grade conspiracy...