Security Clearance Disqualification? Onlyfans/Patreon

I am a young, female engineer beginning work at a company that will eventually require me to obtain security clearance within the upcoming year, and have ambitions to aim for a federal job with the NNSA after some years at this company, which would require me to achieve even higher security clearance.

Hobbies outside work include cosplay, and I have considered starting an OnlyFans/Patreon account as some social media followers have asked for a way to support me. My content would not be nude or pornographic, but have considered making suggestive content that does not push these boundaries of mine. Would something like this end up causing security clearance denial down the line? I’d be vigilant about properly paying taxes on this income, and while I do not put my name on this media, it is not for fear of friends/family/neighbors knowing but rather worry of stalking and other horror stories for people in the cosplay/gaming community. I also wonder, as cosplay requires use of masks/wigs/makeup in order to appear as these characters, would that appear as attempting to hide my identity?

Ultimately, I’d like to pursue these options in my free time as I enjoy it, but if it may harm my career I will not as I love this industry and while the extra income would be extremely helpful, it’s not something I completely need. Sorry if this has been asked.

Depends on where you are going to work as to how deep a dive is taken into your background, specifically your interests.

The point of the dive is to bring to light anything that can be a potential cause of blackmail or a blight to the company, department or agency.

Cosplay runs a gambit of interests but more importantly intent. What is the reasoning behind it? Sex, history, Hollywood, gaming, fashion, Jack Sparrow worship…

There’s a purity and darkness to everything. The way you participate, explain or evade will have an impact on how the clearance process will explore the issue. Keep your cosplay interests in tune with transparency as needed for the type of clearance process you will take part in. Find out from your security official what the investigation will explore.

That I know of, the three letter agencies ask about social media, organizations you participate in, and questionable connections.

You mention being supported by your cosplay interest - can you say 100% that support comes from patrons of US citizenship, with no law enforcement records, and no ties to nefarious situations? Think long and hard about that.

Thanks for the input thus far. As for support, it would be processed via an American company known as Patreon. It allows people who enjoy the content to exchange money for a membership with predetermined awards, i.e. you could pay $X money each month for access to something of my choosing that I explain prior to the membership, like downloads of high quality cosplay images, or tutorials and sewing patterns explaining how I created the costume. The platform also prohibits users from making anything personalized for a patron. That being said, foreigners would be able to subscribe to this service, but I would not be personally communicating with them and Patreon would be handling the memberships and any transactions. They would not see my legal name, nor me theirs.

Would this be cause for concern?

Knowingly taking money from foreigners is probably an issue. It won’t matter where the money is processed through (cleaned) the fact that your services are being purchased by a foreigner… I hope others will give a better response - maybe I’m off track on this.

Don’t overthink the question or the future.

The security clearance process is complicated behind the scenes for a lot of reason. The important thing about this self-employment is to report the employment on your security questionnaire and/or your employer if required as a non-clearance holder.

The fact you are getting money from a random foreign customer is not as important as being upfront and legitimate.

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I’d get rid of all that stuff and tell the investigator about it - because i were investigating you - I’d deny you a clearance:

WAY too much contact with foreign nationals and the potential for you to receive money from them - that can compromise you - what’s cool now, may be embarrassing or could be held over you when you are married with children and have made progress in you career…

The potential for a hacker to find compromising information about you (and I’m not just talking about images) would be far, far too great…In your community of Cos Play, onlyfans might be seen as perfectly acceptable and innocent - but the connection to pornography puts you as risk, imagined or not…

… Clearance is mostly about the “whole person” concept, this is true - but you even having these accounts is going to concern the uptight, straight laced investigators who aren’t there to be friends or fans of you. I’m in my late 40’s and my last, very recent investigation, they guy brought out a mugshot I took when I was 20! He questioned me at length about the incident, too … I know, I know - lame - but remember - this isn’t google or King Soopers! While it may terminate, a clearance is serious and lifetime commitment.