SW05450 - Room Membership: Pseudo Pay Identity Numbers (PIDs) and Shared Workspace

There are occasions when individuals working for HMRC are allocated Pseudo PIDs which enable them to apply for a variety of IT services (including Shared Workspace) e.g.

• New Entrants
• Consultants

Pseudo PIDs are allocated temporarily and are recycled when these people leave or are allocated a permanent PID.

Removing a member with a Pseudo PID

When an individual with a Pseudo PID no longer needs access to Shared Workspace (e.g. on leaving the department, transferring to a work area that does not use Shared Workspace or reapplying for Shared Workspace using a permanent PID) there are certain steps that must be taken:

• The BAO must remove the individual from all Rooms before the service is removed by the manager.
• The individual’s manager must arrange that the Shared Workspace service is removed from the individual as soon as the need for the service no longer exists. (the service can be reallocated to that person if a permanent PID is later assigned)

It is good practice for the BAO and the manager to liaise at this time to ensure that both steps are carried out in the right order.

Failing to remove the member from every Room when the SW service is deactivated could pose significant security implications. This is because:

• Anyone who is allocated that pseudo PID at a later date, and then becomes a member of Shared Workspace, will have the automatic right to view everything that the previous owner was able to access.

Note: All objects within the Shared Workspace Room(s) that have been attributed to the original owner of a pseudo PID will automatically be reattributed to the new owner of that PID if that new owner subsequently becomes a member of Shared Workspace.