What is a pc folder (and the other types of personal data kept by Scientology)?
This is a “basics of Scientology” post for the benefit of those who may not have experienced the full gory from the inside.
A pc (short for preclear, a person on their way to Clear) folder is a folded piece of cardboard that fits legal size papers in it. It is made of cheap cardboard or, in case of more professional outfits, proper folders are bought and custom printed.
The cover of the folder has the name of the person, their case level (where they are on the Bridge, the steps from human to OT) the number of the folder and the starting and ending dates of that folder. Color flash designations (stripes of different color) are included in the corner of folders that are Clear or higher; folders of higher levels are confidential to lower level people. The data is duplicated on the spine of the folder. The folder is kept shut by a rubber band. Urgent instructions meant to be acted upon within 24 hours are clipped on the outside of the folder, written on a red piece of cardboard (“red tag”). Other color designations exist.
Inside the folder, clipped to the inside front cover is the persons C/S, i.e. the program that the Case Supervisor has written for him (it generally follows the Bridge, but more often than not is riddled with a number of “correction” actions). There are other summary-type documents that go inside the front cover, such as “folder error summary” (a report made by another person reviewing the content for auditor errors).
The bulk of the content of the pc folder are session worksheets. They go in with the most recent on top, in date sequence.
After each session or at the end of the day, the auditor fills in an “Auditor’s Report Form” which summarizes the session for the Case Supervisor. After session and an examination (E-meter check), the folder goes to the C/S.
Both auditing sessions and security checking sessions go in the same folder. The difference is that sec checks get an additional summary report sent to the person’s ethics folder, cc:ing ethics personnel, seniors, RTC, etc.
Another item that goes into the pc folder is O/W writeups. Overt/withhold writeups are an ethics action a person can be ordered to do, detailing with complete specifics every overt (crime) or withhold (keeping something secret) he or she has committed against Scientology or another subject.
Ethics reports that someone considers are actionable from a technical point of view (in addition to ethics) can go in a pc folder.
Originations by the person to the C/S or the Examiner (the person who does an after-session E-meter check) about his own case go there.
Word clearing and False Data Stripping (another piece of LRH study tech which aims to rid the person of ideas contrary to LRH’s) worksheets go in the folder. This is because of the LRH idea that all overts trace back to misunderstood words and that errors in word clearing should be fixed in auditing.
Active folders are kept in a lockable room in the auditing area.
Inactive folders are kept in a room or storage usually referred to as the “folder tank.” All folders are kept, including those of deceased persons, ex-Scientologists and declared SPs. They are never given to the person leaving the Church nor destroyed even if they ask for it, but are archived for future use.
Personal information retained by the organization doesn’t end there. Similar folders with different content exists for each individual for different purposes;
There is one in the Ethics Section of the organization called the “ethics folder,” filled with Knowledge Reports (Scientology ethics report) and other ethics issues.
One in the Personnel Section called the “personnel folder,” (for staff only) filled with personnel data and statistics.
A “student file” is kept in the course administration area for each person, and contains checksheets, essays, diagrams, exams and other study-related material.
“Central files folder” exists for any public who has ever contacted the org with all correspondence and data on their training and auditing.
And nowadays there are computerized data bases, ranging from personnel data at org level to continental and international management data files to files for each Scientologist or perceived enemy of Scientology in OSA and RTC data files.