Change in the security clearance process is hard, and doesn’t come easy. Updating just one question on the security clearance application took nearly 10 years. While it doesn’t come easy, security clearance reform is pushing forward four important changes you need to be aware of.
First, eAPP. eAPP is the replacement for the E-QIP (eQIP) system, the current technology used to capture background investigations data. eAPP is designed to bring in more accurate application data, thanks to auto-fill fields and more intuitive programming.
The second change is to the background investigation interviews themselves. The National Background Investigations Bureau hopes to make all investigations more like those of the intelligence community. That means the interviews will likely go beyond simply confirming what you included on the SF-86, and try to uncover what you left off.
The third major change is automation. If the Defense Security Service gets its way, periodic reinvestigations will be replaced entirely with continuous evaluation. Continuous evaluation pulls in data from credit scores to criminal records and reports them back to the National Background Investigation Bureau for investigation.
Finally, the government is looking to uncover new information sources. It’s difficult to change the adjudicative criteria used to issue clearances, but some government leaders hope they can update the information sources being used to gather information. That means everything from social media to Spotify playlists are fair game when the government is gathering data. Are they likely to uncover any issues in those mediums? Probably not. But the moral is the government wants every part of your digital footprint at its disposal when it makes a determination.
The changes may seem subtle, but they could represent significant savings of time for security clearance holders, and a more intuitive security clearance process for the government.
