Continuous Evaluation Program Update

The Office of the Director or National Intelligence (ODNI) recently published a fact sheet on their website outlining some changes being implemented regarding the way that the Continuous Evaluation Program (CEP) will be conducted on security clearance holders. These changes were effected as a result of clearance reform initiatives that identified gaps in between investigation cycles where conduct of potential concern went unnoticed or unreported.  Initially the current focus of these changes are for select agencies that have individuals who hold Top Secret/Special Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearances, but the program eventually will be expanded to include all TS/SCI access holders.

For now, the process will require an individual who undergoes CEP checks to sign a waiver permitting the government to conduct existing CEP checks and activities in place in relation to maintaining eligibility for a security clearance, but will be done on a more frequent basis. However, in a future transition the investigative checks will also include Publicly Available Electronic Information (PAEI), and to the answer a frequently asked question, yes these checks will include social media sites.  The ODNI assures us that information obtained from these PAEI checks will undergo a full legal review to ensure safeguards are in place to protect individual civil liberties and privacy laws.

This future change only makes sense considering how easy technology has made reaching out to and interacting with people across the world, as well as enabling people to engage in criminal or other less than acceptable behavior that would be of a national security concern. As a clearance holder you are responsible for having good judgment and not putting yourself in situations where you could be influenced or blackmailed, and this includes activities and behavior in cyberspace.