Guideline K: Handling Protected Information
Decided hearing cases
294
Grant rate
44%
129 granted · 165 denied
Specific issues and their outcomes
Failure to safeguard / secure
40% granted · 63 granted · 95 denied
Information handling (unspecified)
57% granted · 66 granted · 49 denied
Unauthorized disclosure
30% granted · 23 granted · 54 denied
Removed classified to personal space
54% granted · 20 granted · 17 denied
Cross domain violation
37% granted · 10 granted · 17 denied
Improperly compiled / used protected info
38% granted · 10 granted · 16 denied
Mitigations judges credited most
- Inadequate training1
- Inadvertent1
- Isolated1
- Time elapsed1
- Time elapsed since behavior1
Counted only where the judge expressly credited the mitigation, not merely where it was claimed.
What the reference material says about protected-information cases
- Pattern and recency drive these cases in the published record: repeated recent violations are denied at high rates, while old, isolated lapses followed by clean conduct and remedial training have been mitigated. (Practitioner case reviews)
From our verified reference library: paraphrased from the named sources and reviewed before publication. Descriptive background, not legal advice about any case.
How the process worksA contested case follows a published sequence. Open this for the short version, or put a question to Ask Mode on the home page. Accounts are free and include up to 25 questions per day.
A contested case follows a published path: a Statement of Reasons, the government's written list of its concerns (an SOR), a written answer, a hearing or a decision on the written record, the judge's decision, and in some cases an appeal.
Read the stages of a DOHA case · Ask a question about the process
Where to go from here
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Send us your question, or the Statement of Reasons you received. No charge, and a CASE analyst reads it. Usually five to ten business days.
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Rank every decision by how closely it matches a matter, see how the assigned judge has ruled, and keep it together with cited exports.
For attorneys and firms →Descriptive statistics from decided public DOHA cases. Not legal advice or a prediction. † marks samples under 20 cases.