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Guideline K: Handling Protected Information

Mishandling protected information, such as classified material or controlled documents.

290
decided hearing cases
44%
granted

The specific issues, and how they fared

Failure to safeguard / secure
41% granted · 155
Information handling (unspecified)
58% granted · 113
Unauthorized disclosure
30% granted · 76
Removed classified to personal space
54% granted · 37
Cross domain violation
37% granted · 27
Improperly compiled / used protected info
42% granted · 24

Mitigations judges credited most

Inadequate training
1
Inadvertent
1
Isolated
1
Time elapsed
1
Time elapsed since behavior
1

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.

Where to go from here

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Descriptive statistics from decided public DOHA cases. Not legal advice or a prediction. † marks samples under 20 cases.