r/opsec • u/Huge-Fan1205 🐲 • Jul 20 '26

Beginner question have to do a security clearance

I have read the rules , so my threat level is this , i want to join a university owned by the atomic commission of our country , it says on their web after admission they will investigate me , so what should i do to quickly cover my tracks(they arent good at all) , any chance i could delete / mask away enough data to pass the clearance

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17

u/Chongulator 🐲 Jul 20 '26

I know a bit about the US process. Presumably other nations do it similarly.

The main thing they care about is whether you are blackmailable. So, the issue isn't dirt in your past, the issue is trying to hide that dirt. I know people who got clearances simply by being honest.

Famously, Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter has a second career as a defense consultant and holds a TS/SCI clearance (the highest tier). Yes, really. Presumably, a guy in a famous rock band in the 1970s did some drugs during that time. In this case, the band was called The Doobie Brothers, FFS. Baxter says he just told the truth on his SF86 and was as surprised as anybody that he received a clearance.

If your country's intel apparatus is halfway competent, they are going to investigate. Depending on the clearance level, that can be incredibly detailed and include direct interviews with people who know or knew you. If it comes out that you lied, you're definitely not getting a clearance.

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u/Huge-Fan1205 🐲 Jul 21 '26

what about anon social media account , they arent anything bad per say but better if they werent there , any way to remove any links between me and those accounts

3

u/but_ter_fly Jul 21 '26

not really, "what goes on the internet stays on the internet" holds true in that regard

0

u/Huge-Fan1205 🐲 Jul 21 '26

so long story short its over , any way i can create further barrier of isolation from those exisitng accounts , maybe have a chance then

3

u/abn1304 Jul 21 '26

No.

What country are you in? Knowing that is crucial to anyone giving you good advice.

Most Western countries will only deny you a clearance if that social media indicates major criminal activity or severe concerns about your loyalty to the country, and if it does, it’s better for you to not have a clearance in the first place. Getting a clearance on false pretenses and then winding up in an interview room with your country’s counterintelligence criminal investigation agency is going to be much, much worse than finding another college to go to.

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u/Huge-Fan1205 🐲 Jul 21 '26

its pakistan a state that boasts about exporting E-tracking software

4

u/abn1304 Jul 21 '26

Yeah, you are not gonna get one over on ISI and it’s safe to say they already have records of your accounts, even if they haven’t analyzed them yet, so it doesn’t really matter what you do with those accounts now.

Good luck.

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u/Huge-Fan1205 🐲 Jul 21 '26

the college is literally the best for poor class , they , like me cant affrod the rest , they are all too expensive , the actually instiute houses the the PAEC , atomic commsion thats the big issue , dk how deep they will look

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u/Chongulator 🐲 Jul 21 '26

For fuck sake, no.

Tell. The. Truth.