If you’re a federal employee or contractor requesting or re-applying for a security clearance, the government will now be looking at your social media postings. The policy (signed by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper), the first of its type for the government, was recently released. The premise is to identify security risks, because social media has been identified as one avenue where individuals can post their intentions. While the government will not be asking for social media account login and password information, they will be searching public information that is available online (such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
According to an article in the Washington Post, “Other lawmakers were concerned that the new policy does not require searches for someone’s aliases or other social media identities they said could lead investigators to a lot of relevant information.”
As stated in the policy:
- “Agencies may choose to collect publicly available social media information in the personnel security background investigation process, which pertains to the covered individual’s associations, behavior and conduct, as long as the information pertains to the adjudicative guidelines for making determinations of initial or continued eligibility for access to classified information or eligibility to hold a sensitive position.”
- “Agencies shall not create accounts or use existing accounts on social media for the purpose of connecting (e.g., "friend' ', "follow") to a covered individual or enlist the assistance of a third party in order to bypass privacy controls and/or access otherwise non-publicly available social media information.“
Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) was in favor of the policy by stating, “It defied common sense for the government to overlook social media data available to anyone with an internet connection. I am glad [the director of national intelligence] is taking a big step toward fixing such a glaring lapse in our security clearance process.”
Read an article on the topic here.
View the policy here.