A Secret clearance also comes with a cost. You will have to accept a level of control from the government. You will have to agree that you will be subject to

A Secret clearance also comes with a cost. You will have to accept a level of control from the government. You will have to agree that you will be subject to harsher penalties than a typical citizen, if you pass on ANY classified information to an authorised person. For example, reading or passing on a Snowden document, without authorisation, will become a crime for you. An individual can't revoke the clearance once granted, so the obligations last a lifetime. A Secret clearance isn't a romantic carte blanche to read secret documents of your choosing. That world is compartmentalised and you will be fed information on a "need to know" basis. In a computer analogy, a clearance isn't a loosening of permissions, but a tightening, in that you are agreeing to harsher penalties if you stray outside the boundaries of what others decide you "need to know".