One of the questions I get all the time when I talk to new applicants is this: “If I start working for the government, are they going to track my phone messages?” The short answer? No.
I usually blame Edward Snowden for this one, because ever since those headlines broke, people assume the government is digging into every corner of their lives once they get a clearance. The reality is a lot less dramatic. Clearance applicants do give up some privacy—you’re disclosing a lot of personal information in your application, and if you sit for a polygraph, you may be asked about things like pornography or illegal downloads. But the government isn’t sitting there scrolling through your texts or checking your browser history. That level of intrusion just isn’t happening.
Now, there are some areas where what you do can matter. Social media is one. Public-facing content tied to your name—yes, that can come up. That’s why I always say, if you’ve got something like an OnlyFans account, it could be fair game in a background check. And if you’re posting or profiting from illegal content, that’s a different story. The bottom line? Don’t do anything illegal, whether that’s pirating videos, skipping your taxes, or ignoring financial responsibilities. Those are the kinds of things that will create clearance issues.
So for all the new applicants out there: the government isn’t secretly monitoring your phone. The clearance process is already thorough enough without adding Big Brother into the mix. What investigators really care about is whether you’re trustworthy, responsible, and following the law.
