[1] But, in a different sense, according to The New York Times' language expert William Safire, it describes "the bureaucratic technique of averting future accusations of policy error or wrongdoing by deflecting responsibility in advance".
(a) likes to employ passive constructions (see mistakes were made), (b) follows up a meeting or phone call with a self-serving memcon—"memorandum of conversation", (c) routes memos to and through as many other bureaucrats as possible, thereby spreading the risk of future criticism, and (d) "papers the file" with memoranda sometimes supporting and sometimes contradicting his or her position.In the novel The Negotiator [11] by Frederick Forsyth, CYA finds mention as: There was silence.
For example, in the summer preceding the attacks of 9/11, U.S. president George W. Bush was briefed on a now-famous August 6, 2001, memo titled Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US.
"[12] In another example, before the launch of the United States spaceship Challenger which ended tragically with the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the final launch approval by rocket maker Morton Thiokol contained the phrase "information on this page was prepared to support an oral presentation and cannot be considered complete without the oral discussion"; this notice was later described as a "CYA notice" by information design specialist Edward Tufte.
[15] The term has been used to describe a cultural tendency which works against accountability and risk-taking, such as in a war effort when generals engage in much cover your ass activity which avoids taking real responsibility.