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Press Release Published: May 12, 2016

ODNI Announces New Social Media Policy in Advance of Oversight Hearing

Policy comes following intense scrutiny from Chairman Chaffetz

Today, House Oversight and Government Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) issued the following statement after the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) announced the first federal government-wide policy approving the use of publicly available social media data in the security clearance investigation process for federal employees and contractors.

“It defied common sense for the government to overlook social media data available to anyone with an internet connection. I am glad the ODNI is taking a big step toward fixing such a  glaring lapse in our security clearance process. We will continue to work with ODNI and other federal agencies to bring improvements to that process,” said Chaffetz.  

ODNI’s announcement came just hours before a joint hearing of the Government Operations and National Security Subcommittees to examine why the federal government does not use social media data in the security clearance process.

The new policy also came after the Committee’s February 25, 2015 hearing on security clearance reform during which Chairman Chaffetz questioned ODNI on the lack of a policy authorizing social media checks in clearance investigations.