Recently, a 65 year old female government contractor was arrested and charged with an offense under the Official Secrets Act of 1911.  Her arrest was the result of an intelligence tip,  and she was arrested by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command. An online report highlights a non-terrorist arrest but state-sponsored breach. Investigation is ongoing.  The security clearance of contractor was a middle-ranking employee.  If comparing Scotland Yard’s middle-ranking clearances to U.S. security clearances, the contractor may have had a “secret” clearance.   The U.S. has three types of security clearances: Top Secret, Secret and Confidential.  Can individuals apply for a security clearance? No, individuals can not apply for a security clearance.  Classified information is only accessible to employees of U.S. citizenship according to Executive Order 12968 of August 2, 1995.  There are exceptions.  The purpose of a security clearance adjudges a pre-hire ability and willingness to guard national security data.   A pre-hire’s loyalty, character, trustworthiness and reliability are discerned.

^{Resources:
Bowden, G. “Mystery Over Woman, 65, Arrested By Terror Police For Revealing.” The Huffington Post, 09 September 2017, http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/woman-65-official-secrets-act-terrorism-police_uk_59cb829ae4b05063fe0deb70. Accessed 10 October 2017.
GitHub, Inc. https://github.com/vz-risk/VCDB/issues/10219. Accessed 10 October 2017.
Sawer, P and Verkaik, R. “Woman, 65, working for government arrested on suspicion of passing secrets to foreign power.”  The Telegraph News, 27 September 2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/27/government-worker-arrested-suspicion-offence-officialsecrets/. Accessed 10 October 2017.
United States Department of State “Security Clearances FAQs.” https://www.state.gov/m/ds/clearances/c10977.htm. Accessed 10 October 2017.
Hartley-Parkinson, R. “Government worker, 65, arrested by terror police under Official Secrets Act.” the Metro News,  27 September 2017,  http://metro.co.uk/2017/09/27/government-worker-65-arrested-by-terror-police-under-official-secrets-act-6959645/?ito=cbshare. Accessed 10 October 2017.}