Last week two top officials with Pornhub parent company Mindgeek stepped down. Their move followed the publication of a recent New Yorker article highlighting issues with the site’s content around underage and nonconsensual participants. Mindgeek/Pornhub deny the allegations, but both news reports and lawsuits have called out the company for failing to properly pull down unauthorized content. In December of 2020 several credit card companies blocked payments to Pornhub after similar allegations of the site’s failure to pull down content featuring child abuse.

The news articles put the spotlight back on a security clearance hot topic – and that’s pornography use and the clearance process. Many applicants have a number of questions about their online habits and how they’ll potentially affect a clearance determination. In most cases, those things won’t come up – like browser history (unless it’s on your workplace device), or porn consumption. Where that line gets more gray is for applicants with some intelligence agencies or those undergoing a polygraph. Pornography may come up in the course of a lifestyle polygraph, particularly around questions about if an individual has ever viewed something that made them uncomfortable.

It’s worth noting that sexual behavior is an adjudicative guideline, but one that rarely results in clearance denials or revocations. The government in general is not interested in your sexuality or sexual proclivities. What it is interested in is your ability to maintain trust, avoid blackmail, and follow the rules. Any online consumption that would involve nonconsensual or illegal material should obviously be a hard pass for a security clearance holder or applicant. And when in doubt, ask yourself what you’d be comfortable discussing with a polygraph examiner – or maybe your mom.

Beyond the sexual behavior adjudicative guidelines, misuse of IT systems is another issue that could affect a security clearance holder or applicant with a pornography habit. What happens on your laptop doesn’t stay there, particularly in the age of employee monitoring. Keep your work and private browsing habits separate – particularly if you have particular internet viewing habits.

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Lindy Kyzer is the director of content at ClearanceJobs.com. Have a conference, tip, or story idea to share? Email lindy.kyzer@clearancejobs.com. Interested in writing for ClearanceJobs.com? Learn more here.. @LindyKyzer