As a practical example, I'm guessing there's concern that they could get personal sexuality information about someone in the military and extort them with it.
Seems really quite plausible to me.
Seems really quite plausible to me.
Not sure how this works as far as who should or shouldn't own these companies but there is some potential utility there, with very very little cost.
Lots of things you would think are disqualifying aren't, as long as you disclose them (being involved with BDSM is the most obvious answer I'm aware of).
The fact that they're LGBT isn't the issue with the repeal of don't ask don't tell. But if they're not out and they don't disclose then yes, this information is absolutely valuable.
Money stuff is another disqualifying event. If you're heavily in debt then you're vulnerable to being paid off in exchange for something against the interests of the United States.
If only someone did something in the last few years that would make this data super valuable. Like if Chinese intelligence broke into the US governments HR system and absconded with the data (including all their personal information including where they live).
Oh wait...
Also, it's not just about orientation, it's also about affairs, or adjacency to related petty crimes, which make these people vulnerable to blackmail in private and U.S. security life. e.g. a Chinese asset and you hit it off, maybe take some ecstasy or do something you didn't want your husband/boyfriend to know about, and they have it on video. Maybe it's still doable even if the database itself is not compromised, but probably more expensive and time consuming.
Added: Most Americans' home addresses (usually all of them, going back decades), phone numbers (again, usually all of them, going back decades), and birthdates are available in several privately owned publicly searchable databases which you have to specifically tell not to list these things. DoD broadly, and the Air Force, Army, and Navy at least all instruct personnel to ask that their information be delisted from these databases. Let's say you search for Grindr phone numbers and names in these databases, and find all the people who are not listed. That would be a pretty good start if you're looking for vulnerable people.