4 ms·

What would the ramifications be if they ever found out you lied? It’s an innocent lie, but still, I can imagine that lying on these types of forms could turn ou

What would the ramifications be if they ever found out you lied? It’s an innocent lie, but still, I can imagine that lying on these types of forms could turn out badly.

eloisius 4y ago
Perjury
- stingraycharles 4y ago
  Exactly. So what is the best approach here? Ignore it? Pretend to be of good faith?
  - jhart99 4y ago
    The guidelines have changed in the last couple of years. With the exception of certain agencies(FBI and DEA), drug use is evaluated with the surrounding circumstances. They treat I smoked pot once in college or I dealt pot or I am currently addicted to heroin differently. The guidance these days is to tell the whole truth and describe the circumstances. Lying on the form will definitely disqualify you and a couple dumb things a few years ago won't necessarily.
  - joxel 4y ago
    Don’t apply
technothrasher 4y ago
I don't know, likely at very least they would take away the clearance. That was all over thirty years ago now and I have nothing to do with anything that requires a clearance any longer so I'm not overly worried about it at this point.
wesleyd 4y ago
I assume it’s to give you plenty of opportunities to lie. Revoking naturalization or a green card involves a huge legal effort, but if it can be shown you lied on the application, that’s a much easier case. Many US laws seem to be designed for ease of prosecution than for strict fairness. For example, open container laws are probably easier to prosecute than drunk driving.
hotpotamus 4y ago
Didn't the previous Executive Administration have a few issues with their SF-86 forms? The fact that I remember the form number leads me to believe it must have been in the news a bit. I think they just had to fill out some amended forms or something like that - didn't seem like a big deal.
- r2_pilot 4y ago
  OPM had a security breach back in 2015 and the data on these forms was stolen. https://news.clearancejobs.com/2015/06/13/sf-86-stolen-opm-hack/ https://news.clearancejobs.com/2015/06/13/sf-86-stolen-opm-h...
matwood 4y ago
> It’s an innocent lie It's not the lie itself, it's that you lied at all. Now you are untrustworthy. Drug use in the past is typically not an issue, particularly if you were young at the time. The whole process is to determine if you have good judgement and can be trusted.
- eloisius 4y ago
  And to find out of you have secrets that other people could use to get leverage over you.
  - Symmetry 4y ago
    Yes, but if you admit everything in your application process then no leverage! And if you're in the habit of admitting things then if some foreign agent get you to commit some indiscretion in the future you might also admit that rather than letting them blackmail you into treason.
anthomtb 4y ago
They would revoke your clearance. You would lose the job which required the clearance. And you would never get cleared again (source: happened to a now-former coworker).

What would the ramifications be if they ever found out you lied? It’s an innocent lie, but still, I can imagine that lying on these types of forms could turn out badly.

eloisius 4y ago

Perjury

stingraycharles 4y ago
Exactly. So what is the best approach here? Ignore it? Pretend to be of good faith?
- jhart99 4y ago
  The guidelines have changed in the last couple of years. With the exception of certain agencies(FBI and DEA), drug use is evaluated with the surrounding circumstances. They treat I smoked pot once in college or I dealt pot or I am currently addicted to heroin differently. The guidance these days is to tell the whole truth and describe the circumstances. Lying on the form will definitely disqualify you and a couple dumb things a few years ago won't necessarily.
- joxel 4y ago
  Don’t apply

technothrasher 4y ago

I don't know, likely at very least they would take away the clearance. That was all over thirty years ago now and I have nothing to do with anything that requires a clearance any longer so I'm not overly worried about it at this point.

wesleyd 4y ago

I assume it’s to give you plenty of opportunities to lie. Revoking naturalization or a green card involves a huge legal effort, but if it can be shown you lied on the application, that’s a much easier case. Many US laws seem to be designed for ease of prosecution than for strict fairness. For example, open container laws are probably easier to prosecute than drunk driving.

hotpotamus 4y ago

Didn't the previous Executive Administration have a few issues with their SF-86 forms? The fact that I remember the form number leads me to believe it must have been in the news a bit. I think they just had to fill out some amended forms or something like that - didn't seem like a big deal.

r2_pilot 4y ago
OPM had a security breach back in 2015 and the data on these forms was stolen. https://news.clearancejobs.com/2015/06/13/sf-86-stolen-opm-hack/ https://news.clearancejobs.com/2015/06/13/sf-86-stolen-opm-h...

matwood 4y ago

> It’s an innocent lie It's not the lie itself, it's that you lied at all. Now you are untrustworthy. Drug use in the past is typically not an issue, particularly if you were young at the time. The whole process is to determine if you have good judgement and can be trusted.

eloisius 4y ago
And to find out of you have secrets that other people could use to get leverage over you.
- Symmetry 4y ago
  Yes, but if you admit everything in your application process then no leverage! And if you're in the habit of admitting things then if some foreign agent get you to commit some indiscretion in the future you might also admit that rather than letting them blackmail you into treason.

anthomtb 4y ago

They would revoke your clearance. You would lose the job which required the clearance. And you would never get cleared again (source: happened to a now-former coworker).