Porn and Clearance Reinvestigation

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
#1

I am 4 years into a federal career as an engineer for the DOD and am eligible for a secret clearance. I regularly view pornhub and other sources of legal adult pornography (sites that display 2257) on my home computer - however never at work or on work hours. Additionally, I have never had any criminal history.

I sometimes worry/obsess about things and have performed google searches to the effect of “is pornhub legal” or “is there any illegal content on pornhub” This has yielded various results (which I have read over) such as quora, yahoo answers, and attorney advice websites of people asking about possibly stumbling across illegal content while viewing these sites.

While I never have never searched for or viewed illegal content before, I am worried that the mere act of performing a google search of the above quoted phrases could come up in a background investigation down the road and lead to further questions or denial.

I know that social media usage and public online history is investigated, however am I unnecessarily worried about my internet search/browsing history coming up in my re-investigation down the road?

#2

yes

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#3

I am a little confused on how you think your browsing history would be able to be viewed without a subpoena for physical access to your computer itself (or in the very least its MAC address and/or IP), and then a warrant/subpoena to actively search/trace the activities. I mean no offense by asking this, but are you aware how internet traffic works? Also, there is no section on the SF-86 that would even address this type of thing, and it would only come up if directly asked (for some very odd reason) or if one of your references was like, “Oh yeah govemployee123 is really into watching naked people swimming around in huge vats of mac n’ cheese.”

If you haven’t viewed any illegal material and aren’t doing anything illegal when it comes to your sexual habits (prostitutes, underage partners, etc) then you have nothing to worry about IMO and this will not even come up.

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#4

Thanks for the quick reply! Reassuring

#5

You’re welcome! Just fill out any/all forms honestly, and if a question isn’t asked don’t offer an answer! Also, I hope my asking about your knowledge of internet traffic didn’t come off as too gruff or harsh, I just wanted you to know that it isn’t as simple as some agency typing in your name and it returns a list of everything you have ever Google’d or done. Good luck!

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#6

I was a BI for several years now working on the office side of persec I can safely say I have never asked about or seen any references to anything of this nature in the roughly 6 years I’ve been in this field. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, but there would have to be some very particular circumstances around your internet use for anything about this to come up during an investigation. Just keep it out of the office/work pc so you don’t get flagged by the IT person and you’ll be fine.

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#7

Thanks @CE9912675 (no worries by the way, I just didn’t know how in depth the background investigation may be able to see) and @buddha724. As I say, I was mainly concerned that someone might question why I would have searched for/visited legal advice websites despite not having actually viewed anything illegal. Your responses are much appreciated and calm any paranoia I may have.

#8

The ONLY concern would be if your usage is something someone could blackmail, coerce, pressure you with. Say you’re married and viewing gay pornhub and someone knows it, could they use it against you to get info they want? Far fetched but all it would take would be a couple Sources or references to answer when asked “if they knew of anything the a person could use to blackmail you”? “Well yes the dude likes gay porn and would die if his wife found out”. The Investigator would have to resolve the issue which would mean asking you some embarrassing questions. But under normal porn viewing circumstances, your safe.

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#9

The day we have to cover a Subject’s browsing history is the day I quit. I don’t even want to know. Lol

Yikes.

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#10

Thanks to all for the replies. This is all very reassuring and gives me no reason to fear. It sounds like I have been worries much about nothing.

My only last concern is that this morning prior to starting work, I opened my personal gmail on my work computer to respond to a question from a friend. On opening my email, one of the unread emails was the notification of responses to this thread which of course had the word “porn” in the subject line. Of course I did not open that email nor this page and the only email I responded to was the question from my friend about an upcoming event. Is this something that could be flagged by the IT department simply due to the presence of the word “porn” on a webpage? Or since it is https would it be harder to flag?

Sorry if this is total paranoia…

#11

You’re fine. On top of my several years in PerSec I’m working on a career change into IT… I’m 99% sure all the IT folks would have seen is Gmail traffic on their network, not specific screenshots of your desktop. If they’re doing screen captures of employees they’d need a small army of IT folks to facilitate that along with people to skim through them… ain’t nobody got time, or money, for that.

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#12

Now, if you require a full poly, and offer up questionable searches…that can cause stress, bp increase, heart rate increase, paus longer than normal…all great stuff for the polygrapher to pick apart. I’ve been in a Poly slot 10 years now, had 4 polygraphs. They all suck. But walking in I’m prepared to answer “I absolutely have” to the have you viewed pornographic sites question possibility.

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#13

Thank you all for then replies!

#14

I once tried to google the medical abbreviation PRN (to see what the actual term was when spelled out) on my work computer a week after I started my new job. Of course google autocorrected it. I had a mini panic but laugh about it now haha.

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#15

While I do agree that there is no place for it on the SF-86, during my recent TS/SCI interview while the investigator was inquiring about my home life/marriage directly asked me if I viewed internet porn. I think it’s entirely up to the investigator though.

#16

Extra questions that aren’t on thw 86 are supposed to be asked. One of the questions is…have you behaved without discretion, or engaged in any sexual behavior that is of a criminal nature, even if not prosecuted, or engaged in any compulsive self destructive or high risk sexual behavior that might make you vulnerable to coercion, exploitation or duress. If your investigator didn’t ask about 40 extra questions not on the 86 they didn’t do their job. The Investigator does not get to choose when to ask these questions even though i was told by a gov associate that theyre allowed to decide when they dont need to ask the extra questions…whatever.

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#17

No Background Investigator should be asking you if you view porn. It doesn’t come up anywhere on the SF-86 and I independently contract with all of the agencies and vendors and at no point do we question people about their porn habits…only if they have been cited for any offenses in the last seven years or been arrested in the last seven years. Some agencies (depending upon who you work for) do ask follow up questions if you have engaged in any conduct or activity that is illegal even if it is not detected by law enforcement. Obviously if someone is viewing child porn or illegal pornography, you’d have to disclose that and more than likely expect an arrest shortly thereafter once the Investigator reports this up the chain of command.

The original post by the original author is paranoid when it comes to his porn habits. On a moral level, I find use of pornography deplorable and many people that have voluntarily disclosed this to me in interviews are addicted to it which now opens up answers to questions on SF-86’s in previous years such as counseling for porn addictions, ruined marriages because the porn use leads to infidelity or just an addiction the spouse could never kick. Usually it’s a male problem with porn use and porn addiction. Some people are so addicted to porn that they cannot control themselves and use it on their work computers.

With the degradation of values and morals in society, it’s sad we even have to address this or hear someone disclosing their porn habits in their personal lives and paranoia in wondering how it would affect their eligibility for a security clearance. If that paranoia and guilt don’t tell you it’s wrong, I don’t know what else to personally say about a deplorable habit like porn use. I know many people view it but call me old fashioned. Why not stay true and faithful to your wife or significant other or find some worthwhile hobbies that build character and strength in your life then watching other people have sex? I make no apologies for the morality soapbox.

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#18

Well, I was asked by my contract FBI investigator. I’m not saying he should have, but the fact remains that he did ask when inquiring about my martial relations.

#19

At no point should your Investigator have asked this question if you viewed porn in your marriage. No Investigator has the liberty to expound upon things that aren’t listed on the SF-86 or required to be listed on the SF-86 unless they come up voluntarily by an applicant during routine questioning or other areas on SF-86 or during questioning specific to agency requirements. There is no required questioning for pornography use in your personal life or marriage except perhaps a question that can be asked regarding viewing pornography on a work computer (cannot recall which agencies do question on this) for all federal agencies during the federal background investigation.

#20

In my experience this extra question covers a lot of ground. A well timed pause allows Subject the opportunity to share what needs to be said. Teenage sexting is occasionally the topic mentioned.

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