NASA Outlines New Approach for Protecting Proprietary Information NASA says it now has contractors watchdogging other contractors, so the agency is proposing a new rule governing how one company must protect another company’s proprietary information. “NASA has traditionally allowed only civil servants to have access to confidential information in the government’s possession,” the agency said in a notice in the Dec. 5 Federal Register. “Practical realities, coupled with new policy initiatives, compel NASA to reconsider its approach to managing contractor-related information… Simply put, NASA no longer has enough employees to manage and safeguard all of the information in question. Of necessity, NASA is increasing its use of service contractors to assist in performing many administrative, financial and technical functions that had been performed previously by government employees only.” It said contractors will provide services that “run the gamut from routine clerical support such as data entry and invoice processing, to more complex in-plant reviews, contract closeout processing, system administration, and safety and quality assurance activities.” The Federal Acquisition Regulation provides that when a contractor gains access to other companies’ proprietary information, the service provider must enter into agreement with the other companies “to protect their information from unauthorized use or disclosure and to refrain from using the information for any purpose other than that for which it was furnished.” Given its current shortage of personnel, the space agency said, “NASA cannot be responsible for managing this potentially enormous universe of interrelated non-disclosure agreements.” Instead of agreements between and among contractors, NASA proposes new contract clauses that will build in protections for proprietary information. The proposed rule requires that: *NASA will disclose to bidders when a job requires access to confidential information. *Bidders “must have developed a comprehensive organizational conflicts-of-interest avoidance plan,” and that plan will be evaluated in the selection process. *A winning bidder must submit a conflict-of-interest avoidance plan that identifies all potential problems that may arise from performing the contract and proposes methods to control or eliminate them. That plan, when approved by the contracting officer, will be incorporated into the contract. *Contractors must identify any confidential information they submit as part of a proposal or in performance of a contract. The proposed rule is FR Doc 03-29930 in the Dec. 5 Federal Register. Public comments are due by Feb. 3.