Continuous vetting has been all over the news lately, and after a recent NISPPAC meeting, I’ve been getting a lot of follow-up questions about how the alert process actually works. So let’s talk numbers, because I think they’ll put your mind at ease.
As of the 2025 data published on DCSA’s website — the most current I’ve seen — there are more than four million people enrolled in continuous vetting. Of that population, just shy of a million will generate an alert at any given time. Sounds like a lot, right? Here’s the thing: a good chunk of those never go anywhere. About 380,000 actually get reviewed further, and even then, many are deemed irrelevant or not applicable to the adjudicated guidelines. Of everything that comes in, roughly 250,000 evolve into an actual trust decision, where an adjudicator steps in.
That review process leans on a lot of automation — identity validation, checking relevance against adjudicated guidelines, making sure an issue hasn’t already been addressed — but there’s also a real human element working alongside the tech. So for most of you, you won’t know an alert happened. You’ll only hear from the government if they need more information, and I’d tell you: validate that request is legitimate. We see a lot of fraud and scams out there, so make sure you can get contact info back, or use DCSA’s hotline to check.
One thing I’ll flag: notification isn’t standardized yet. Sometimes it goes to your security officer, sometimes straight to you. DCSA is still working through that — and correct me if I’m wrong, please, because I’m often wrong.
Bottom line: an alert is not a decision, and it does not mean your clearance is revoked. You still get to mitigate. And if you already self-reported? Congratulations — gold star.
