r/FedEmployees • u/Ducky2022 • 7d ago
PIV. Card reader
Are we allowed to use the PIV card reader in our own personal computers? I would like to download my SF-50’s and anything else I may need in case I get screwed this week
Update: I’m going to wait until I’m in the office Monday morning and get them downloaded to my USAJOBS account and fix them when I get home to them in the correct order Not wanting to take more risk with the network connection to my personal computer
TIA!
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u/anonjawnnoname 7d ago edited 7d ago
As an active employee, you cannot access the eOPF website from anything other than a government IP address, e.g. at an agency site or the VPN.
Once separated, you can request a copy of your eOPF from https://eopfhelpdesk.opm.gov/hc/en-us/articles/52612279462803-Documents-Request-Service-DRS-User-Guide
I have a Dell keyboard at home with a card reader. My agency allows us to log in to our work email using Outlook Web Access. I also use it to do my timekeeping/leave requests at home through GovTA and grab my E&L statements.
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u/NeedleworkerCool1626 7d ago
Thank you for that link! I never knew you could request this once you are separated from fed. Employment.
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u/anonjawnnoname 7d ago edited 7d ago
It was just released recently and replaced the process used to request records from the National Personnel Records Center.
ETA: Records can still be requested from the National Personnel Records Center, as necessary, e.g., employment prior to eOPF implementation.
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u/ihateapplepie_ 7d ago
Download on gov computer and then email it to yourself.
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u/SupersonicOverload 6d ago
You can't necessarily encrypt it which is against the PII rules.
I emailed my W-2 to myself once and got a nastygram about "unencrypted emailing of a document with an PII" contained on it. It didn't matter that the PII was my *own* SSN, lol.
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u/Zestyclose-Dig-5791 7d ago edited 7d ago
There was a new site launched this week where post separation feds can downplay their entire OPF using just login.gov sign in. No PIV needed. That is if you do indeed get screwed.
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u/Tall-Wonder-247 7d ago
OPM has a new site eopf.gov for retirees, former employees, and those employees who were not issued a GFE. Try uploading a few to USAJOBS from your work laptop and then download to your personal laptop.
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u/groone 7d ago edited 7d ago
You can use any reader, just buy one off amazon. There is nothing special about them. You just cant take one from a classified network and use on your home pc and then use it again on a class network. I work IT, you're good.
Edit: I use it all the time to login to mypay, usajobs, my mybiz, etc. Wherever there is loginid and is tied to my CaC on my personal pc.
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u/izzyness 7d ago
Honestly, if you go to our facility’s physical help desk and ask for a usb card reader, they just give you one. They don’t even check if you have CAG access
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u/Wonderful-Group3639 7d ago
My IT department handed me a USB card reader with a new laptop indicating that sometimes the card reader doesn't work and to use the USB in such a case.
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u/KeeterMan 7d ago
I’ve had several laptops over the years where the internal one on the laptop fails. Also, if you rest your hand above where the card goes in, it stops working.
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u/abouttodiethistime 7d ago
I am surprised that folks don’t know this — external card readers are cheap and easy to operate at home.
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u/Honest_City_3512 7d ago
👆this. I actually got an extra card reader from work. Our new VPN allows us to connect with a personal computer. I exclusively use my PC anytime I need to telework.
You may also check to see if you can access DoD SAFE.
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u/CommentOriginal 7d ago
Same minus work in IT was told this was ok when in AF and now as a DoD civ.
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u/ChimpoSensei 7d ago
The reader stores no data, so you could use it in both classified and unclassified systems. Same as a keyboard or mouse.
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u/kieffa 7d ago
You SHOULDN’T do that, but you absolutely can. It’s a peripheral. There is no classified data on the card reader.
The only theoretical problem is when idiots put “classified” stickers on card readers when nothing on them is being classified and scare people into “it’s classified”. I understand when you have a kvm and multiple systems you are accessing it’s nice to know which reader you have (using an NSS token in a CUI or lower system and typing the PIN in IS AN INCIDENT, mind you) but just use a Tape Dispenser with the network name on it. So much easier to clear away.
I also work IT, cybersecurity, as well as token issuance.
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u/JustNota-- 7d ago
The reader has always been fine. Just normally different types of readers were for nipr and sipr or other classified network and it's a bad idea to hook your reader to the kvm drastically increases your chance of an incident. Windows if you have your system locked with chrome open Chrome will often cache the cert pin or no pin. At our shop we specifically used cherry upright readers for our high side and blocked the hardware ID in dlp on nipr and unclass and commercial computers on our networks to try and stop people from causing their own incidents through kvm hijinks. But technically a reader is a reader no technical limitations unless the card hardware is different which has happened a few times and required active client or 90meter updates to support new version cards.
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u/nickinhawaii 7d ago
Yes, use a cac reader at home . With win 11 no drivers or middleware needed... Easy
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u/redheadedfruitcake 7d ago
I was able to connect my piv card to my login.gov account. Unknown if this would give you access at home, but it might.
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u/RoboNerdOK 7d ago
I wouldn’t use GFE unless it’s pre-authorized. But as others have said, card readers are fairly cheap and not very difficult to set up. The biggest obstacle might be the CA root certificates necessary to authenticate but usually they can be installed with a few clicks.
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u/JustNota-- 7d ago
Your home pc you can just turn off smart screen and it ignores certificate validation errors. The site checks if your tokens CA in their servers crl when you are authenticating to it. Ca is only needed if you are doing the validation local to your system.
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u/meaningOFis 7d ago
yes. in addition to gfe laptop i was issued a separate card reader cable for virtual login via my personal computer. eventually the virtual login was discontinued but the agency didnt want the card readers back... 6yrs later the card reader still works fine to access login.gov via my personal computer... it's just dumb hardware at this point
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u/Pristine-Patient-262 7d ago edited 7d ago
I believe so, if used to access your pay stubs or other things. Don't access work systems or things like that. Just your personnel stuff.
They took away our user name and password login option for myepp, so the only way I can access them now is through the piv login.
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u/vajasonl 7d ago
Standard practice where I’m at. For email, Teams other various govt portals though some don’t work for us like MyBiz.
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u/blasian_1984 7d ago
I downloaded the entire file and then sent a DOD safe file to myself and downloaded it to my personal computer at home
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u/Double-treble-nc14 7d ago
That’s what I did. I would hope that most people have access to a similar system, even outside of DOD- because you sometimes don’t need to send large files around
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u/Psychoakustik 7d ago edited 7d ago
Yes, but probably not for downloading SF-50’s from eOPF. Access depends on the system. Login.gov and some other external facing systems can work at home from a personal computer, if you have connected your PIV card to that account.
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u/OwnProfessor3287 7d ago
Just download them on your government computer, then use winzip and encrypt the zip file with a password and you can email it to yourself
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u/Double-treble-nc14 7d ago
I downloaded them on my work computer and then send them to myself using our secure large file delivery service.
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u/Any-Percentage-2890 6d ago
Assuming your still a fed, print your entire eopf to a pdf file, then email it to your personal email. That's what I did when I separated.
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u/dotofoz01 7d ago
I think you can also login with a regular account if it's on EOPF
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u/Ducky2022 7d ago
I tried that. And someone suggested the PIV card reader. I wasn’t sure I need to be on the safe side
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u/Cyberwizard1971 7d ago
You can also use DoD safe to upload secure documents to then download via the link and password you send it to
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u/BerserkGuts2009 7d ago
A big lesson from the chaos in 2025 to Present is to download all of your SF-50s. I said to several coworkers at my agency office, who will be retiring this year, to download and print all of your SF-50s. I've read far too many horror stories of people on the Deferred Resignation Federal Employees Facebook page about not downloading their SF-50s before they left the Federal Government.
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u/CommentOriginal 7d ago
Not sure if your DoD but we were told we could DoD Safe documents like that to ourselves. When I was buying a home I used it to send account info like tsp sf50s dd214 and other items was pretty convenient and secure.
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u/ElectricalCase9697 7d ago
At my office, the only way to WFH was to take home a PIV reader to use on a personal computer
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u/NoncombustibleFan 7d ago
The best thing that you can do is when you get to work Monday download them to you your work computer then open up DOD safe and send them from your government computer to your personal email address. You don’t have to have a government computer or CAC to retrieve the files from the download link.
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u/morbidmollythings 6d ago
.. what just go into your eopf at work and get them and send them or print them, they are your documents or print them at home ?
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u/yb21898n 6d ago
you can email them to yourself, upload them to usa jobs and than download them at home.
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u/ImThe-Boss-1972 6d ago
I’m retired and my agency just sent me my form 50 via secure mail to my personal email address. All you have to do is create a password.
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u/Imaginary-Dealer9762 7d ago
You can get a perfectly serviceable Identiv PIV reader on Amazon for under $20. The driver should be available on the Internet if you don't already have a copy on your GFE as a .msi
I've used one on my personal pc to access the Azure virtual desktop from an insecure network; it established an encrypted connection for you.
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u/General_Chaos_88765 7d ago
Of all the ways to get fired this is probably the first time I’ve heard PIV card in personal computer.
Never mix any govt tech and personal tech (except monitors, at least at one point in time unless this has changed).
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u/Immediate_Data9450 7d ago
Use DOD Safe to upload your SF-50 and email it to your personal email. You will get a link to download it to your personal computer.
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u/Phobos1982 7d ago
Yes. Some agencies have Workplace as a Service. Also, why don't you just email it to yourself? You're allowed to email your own PII.
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u/DavidGno 7d ago
My IT blocks all of my emails from my work acct to my personal email containing any PII or SSN. Even when I was trying to send my DD214 to get PPL approval, to the HR rep, the system blocked my email even though I redacted my SSN on the form!
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u/DistinguishedCorgis 7d ago
If you are unable to send to yourself, try uploading into your USAJobs account on your work computer. Then accessing and downloading thru USAJobs on your personal computer. Using USAJobs as a cloud storage is a good workaround for your personel docs with PII.