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67-428: Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance with a need to know . Mishandling of the material can incur criminal penalties. A formal security clearance is required to view or handle classified material. The clearance process requires

134-571: A threat model that is broadly similar to that faced by a large private company. The Official Sensitive classification replaced the Restricted classification in April 2014 in the UK; Official indicates the previously used Unclassified marking. Unclassified is technically not a classification level. Though this is a feature of some classification schemes, used for government documents that do not merit

201-426: A business goal. Depending on the severity of consequences, a violation of non-disclosure may result in employment loss, loss of business and client contacts, criminal charges or a civil lawsuit, and a hefty sum in damages. When NDAs are signed between employer and employee at the initiation of employment, a non-compete clause may be a part of the agreement as an added protection of sensitive business information, where

268-401: A change from the previous rule, under which documents could have their classification time length renewed indefinitely, effectively shuttering state secrets from the public. The 2011 law applies retroactively to existing documents. The government of Canada employs two main types of sensitive information designation: Classified and Protected. The access and protection of both types of information

335-504: A classification in public sectors, such as commercial industries. Such a level is also known as " Private Information". Official (equivalent to US DOD classification Controlled Unclassified Information or CUI) material forms the generality of government business, public service delivery and commercial activity. This includes a diverse range of information, of varying sensitivities, and with differing consequences resulting from compromise or loss. Official information must be secured against

402-443: A different level or declassified (made available to the public) depending on changes of situation or new intelligence. Classified information may also be further denoted with the method of communication or access. For example, Protectively Marked "Secret" Eyes Only or Protectively Marked "Secret" Encrypted transfer only. Indicating that the document must be physically read by the recipient and cannot be openly discussed for example over

469-559: A draft policy and framework, the political processes, and the resulting policy implementation lasted from 2005 through 2017. The study was led by Grace Mastalli and Richard Russell. The US Department of Defense has been handling "Controlled Unclassified Information" before the Presidential 2008 memorandum was published and NARA became the Executive Agent in 2010. The DoD term embraced a similar type of data category. However,

536-562: A fair and just social contract . The purpose of classification is to protect information. Higher classifications protect information that might endanger national security . Classification formalises what constitutes a "state secret" and accords different levels of protection based on the expected damage the information might cause in the wrong hands. However, classified information is frequently "leaked" to reporters by officials for political purposes. Several U.S. presidents have leaked sensitive information to influence public opinion. Although

603-402: A government agency or group shares information between an agency or group of other country's government they will generally employ a special classification scheme that both parties have previously agreed to honour. For example, the marking Atomal, is applied to U.S. Restricted Data or Formerly Restricted Data and United Kingdom Atomic information that has been released to NATO. Atomal information

670-701: A government official to review) with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) under the Cyber AB (Accreditation Board). A Presidential memorandum of May 9, 2008, signed by President George W. Bush , assigned responsibility to the National Archives (NARA) for overseeing and managing the implementation of the CUI framework. This memorandum was rescinded by Executive Order 13556 of November 4, 2010, and

737-598: A handful document markings with one new CUI marking, the CUI Program has expanded to over 124 categories in 20 groupings, with 60 Specified and 60+ Basic categories." He continued to express concerns from the Intelligence Community about significant cost, unclear guidance, and requested recision and a process for presidential action. DNI Ratcliffe stated that the following rescission, support would be given to an Executive-branch review and replacement of

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804-604: A new set of "digital rights" for EU citizens in an age when the economic value of personal data is increasing in the digital economy. In Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) regulates the collection and use of personal data and electronic documents by public and private organizations. PIPEDA is in effect in all federal and provincial jurisdictions, except provinces where existing privacy laws are determined to be “substantially similar”. Even though not through

871-493: A particular classification or which have been declassified. This is because the information is low-impact, and therefore does not require any special protection, such as vetting of personnel. A plethora of pseudo-classifications exist under this category. Clearance is a general classification, that comprises a variety of rules controlling the level of permission required to view some classified information, and how it must be stored, transmitted, and destroyed. Additionally, access

938-421: A person's health care , education, and employment may be protected by privacy laws . Unauthorized disclosure of private information can make the perpetrator liable for civil remedies and may in some cases be subject to criminal penalties. Even though they are often used interchangeably, personal information is sometimes distinguished from private information, or personally identifiable information . The latter

1005-544: A person, organization, or agency". Secret material would cause "serious damage" to national security if it were publicly available. In the United States, operational "Secret" information can be marked with an additional "LimDis", to limit distribution. Confidential material would cause "damage" or be prejudicial to national security if publicly available. Restricted material would cause "undesirable effects" if publicly available. Some countries do not have such

1072-400: A routine level of protection and is treated as OFFICIAL. Information that does not form part of official duty is treated as UNOFFICIAL. OFFICIAL and UNOFFICIAL are not security classifications and are not mandatory markings. Caveats are a warning that the information has special protections in addition to those indicated by the security classification of PROTECTED or higher (or in the case of

1139-522: A satisfactory background investigation. Documents and other information must be properly marked "by the author" with one of several (hierarchical) levels of sensitivity—e.g. restricted, confidential, secret, and top secret. The choice of level is based on an impact assessment; governments have their own criteria, including how to determine the classification of an information asset and rules on how to protect information classified at each level. This process often includes security clearances for personnel handling

1206-509: A telephone conversation or that the communication can be sent only using encrypted means. Often mistakenly listed as meaning for the eyes of the intended recipient only the anomaly becomes apparent when the additional tag "Not within windowed area" is also used. Data privacy concerns exist in various aspects of daily life wherever personal data is stored and collected, such as on the internet , in medical records , financial records , and expression of political opinions . In over 80 countries in

1273-467: Is a category of unclassified information within the U.S. Federal government. The CUI program was created by President Obama’s Executive Order 13556 to create a streamlined method for information sharing and safeguarding. The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) acts as the Executive Agent (EA) of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and is responsible for oversight of

1340-400: Is a significant and ever-growing field in computer science. The term computer insecurity , on the other hand, is the concept that computer systems are inherently vulnerable to attack, and therefore an evolving arms race between those who exploit existing vulnerabilities in security systems and those who must then engineer new mechanisms of security. A number of security concerns have arisen in

1407-508: Is already a matter of public record or knowledge. With regard to government and private organizations, access to or release of such information may be requested by any member of the public, and there are often formal processes laid out for how to do so. The accessibility of government-held public records is an important part of government transparency, accountability to its citizens, and the values of democracy. Public records may furthermore refer to information about identifiable individuals that

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1474-441: Is also changing the face of domestic and international politics. Cyber-warfare and cyber espionage is becoming of increasing importance to the national security and strategy of nations around the world, and it is estimated that 120 nations around the world are currently actively engaged in developing and deploying technology for these purposes. Philosophies and internet cultures such as open-source governance , hacktivism , and

1541-537: Is also regarded as sensitive, where the individual sharing these details with a trusted listener would prefer for it not to be shared with anyone else, and the sharing of which may result in unwanted consequences. Confidential business information (CBI) refers to information whose disclosure may harm the business. Such information may include trade secrets , sales and marketing plans, new product plans, notes associated with patentable inventions, customer and supplier information, financial data, and more. Under TSCA , CBI

1608-544: Is an acronym for "Control of Secret Material in an International Command". Most countries employ some sort of classification system for certain government information. For example, in Canada , information that the U.S. would classify SBU (Sensitive but Unclassified) is called "protected" and further subcategorised into levels A, B, and C. On 19 July 2011, the National Security (NS) classification marking scheme and

1675-409: Is categorized into a hierarchy of classification levels in almost every national government worldwide, with the most restricted levels containing information that may cause the greatest danger to national security if leaked. Authorized access is granted to individuals on a need to know basis who have also passed the appropriate level of security clearance . Classified information can be reclassified to

1742-528: Is defined as proprietary information, considered confidential to the submitter, the release of which would cause substantial business injury to the owner. The US EPA may as of 2016, review and determine if a company´s claim is valid. Classified information generally refers to information that is subject to special security classification regulations imposed by many national governments, the disclosure of which may cause harm to national interests and security. The protocol of restriction imposed upon such information

1809-663: Is desired that no document be released which refers to experiments with humans and might have adverse effect on public opinion or result in legal suits. Documents covering such work field should be classified "secret". April 17, 1947 Atomic Energy Commission memo from Colonel O.G. Haywood, Jr. to Dr. Fidler at the Oak Ridge Laboratory in Tennessee. As of 2010, Executive Order 13526 bans classification of documents simply to "conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error" or "prevent embarrassment to

1876-415: Is distinct from the former in that Private information can be used to identify a unique individual. Personal information, on the other hand, is information belonging to the private life of an individual that cannot be used to uniquely identify that individual. This can range from an individual's favourite colour, to the details of their domestic life. The latter is a common example of personal information that

1943-553: Is governed by the Security of Information Act , effective 24 December 2001, replacing the Official Secrets Act 1981 . To access the information, a person must have the appropriate security clearance and the need to know. In addition, the caveat "Canadian Eyes Only" is used to restrict access to Classified or Protected information only to Canadian citizens with the appropriate security clearance and need to know. SOI

2010-471: Is limited to the people with different roles, thus in essence requiring establishment of the "sensitive data domain" model and mechanisms of its protection. Some of the domains have a guideline in form of pre-defined models such as "Safe Harbor" of HIPAA, based on the research of Latanya Sweeny and established privacy industry metrics. Additionally, many other countries have enacted their own legislature regarding data privacy protection, and more are still in

2077-474: Is marked COSMIC Top Secret Atomal (CTSA), NATO Secret Atomal (NSAT), or NATO Confidential Atomal (NCA). BALK and BOHEMIA are also used. For example, sensitive information shared amongst NATO allies has four levels of security classification; from most to least classified: A special case exists with regard to NATO Unclassified (NU) information. Documents with this marking are NATO property ( copyright ) and must not be made public without NATO permission. COSMIC

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2144-541: Is not a classification of data per se . It is defined under the Security of Information Act , and unauthorised release of such information constitutes a higher breach of trust, with a penalty of up to life imprisonment if the information is shared with a foreign entity or terrorist group. SOIs include: Classified information can be designated Top Secret , Secret or Confidential . These classifications are only used on matters of national interest. Protected information

2211-511: Is not classified. It pertains to any sensitive information that does not relate to national security and cannot be disclosed under the access and privacy legislation because of the potential injury to particular public or private interests. Federal Cabinet ( King's Privy Council for Canada ) papers are either protected (e.g., overhead slides prepared to make presentations to Cabinet) or classified (e.g., draft legislation, certain memos). Sensitive information This refers to information that

2278-411: Is not considered confidential, including but not limited to: census records, criminal records , sex offender registry files, and voter registration . This includes business information that is not subjected to special protection and may be routinely shared with anyone inside or outside of the business. Confidential information is used in a general sense to mean sensitive information whose access

2345-421: Is restricted on a " need to know " basis. Simply possessing a clearance does not automatically authorize the individual to view all material classified at that level or below that level. The individual must present a legitimate "need to know" in addition to the proper level of clearance. In addition to the general risk-based classification levels, additional compartmented constraints on access exist, such as ( in

2412-620: Is subject to restriction, and may refer to information about an individual as well as that which pertains to a business. However, there are situations in which the release of personal information could have a negative effect on its owner. For example, a person trying to avoid a stalker will be inclined to further restrict access to such personal information. Furthermore, a person's SSN or SIN , credit card numbers, and other financial information may be considered private if their disclosure might lead to crimes such as identity theft or fraud . Some types of private information, including records of

2479-457: Is the intentional disclosure of sensitive information to a third-party with the intention of revealing alleged illegal, immoral, or otherwise harmful actions. There are many examples of present and former government employees disclosing classified information regarding national government misconduct to the public and media, in spite of the criminal consequences that await them. Espionage , or spying, involves obtaining sensitive information without

2546-473: The Access to Information Act : ultrassecreto (top secret), secreto (secret) and reservado (restricted). A top secret ( ultrassecreto ) government-issued document may be classified for a period of 25 years, which may be extended up to another 25 years. Thus, no document remains classified for more than 50 years. This is mandated by the 2011 Information Access Law ( Lei de Acesso à Informação ),

2613-763: The 111th Congress in the US Senate , but it was never passed by the Senate. The doctrine, policy, and processes for Controlled Unclassified Information came out of a study and policy change proposal which originated within the Information Sharing and Collaboration Office of the Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection Under Secretariat of the Department of Homeland Security in 2004. The term Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)

2680-457: The CUI program. The ISOO monitors the implementation of the CUI program by executive branch agencies. CUI will replace agency specific labels such as For Official Use Only (FOUO), Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU), and Law Enforcement Sensitive (LES) on new data and some data with legacy labels will also qualify as Controlled Unclassified Information. Federal contractors who handle CUI will be required to self-assess (or, in some cases, require

2747-632: The DoD and NARA differed then and now (2019) on specific categories of data defined as "CUI". DoDM 5200.01 Vol 4 defines DoD CUI policy until it is revised to align with NARA's definition. The Secretary of the Navy published SECNAV 5510.34 in November 1993 entitled Disclosure of Classified Military Information and Controlled Unclassified Information. As of December, 2020, the Director of National Intelligence at

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2814-504: The NATIONAL CABINET caveat, OFFICIAL: Sensitive or higher). Australia has four caveats: Codewords are primarily used within the national security community. Each codeword identifies a special need-to-know compartment . Foreign government markings are applied to information created by Australian agencies from foreign source information. Foreign government marking caveats require protection at least equivalent to that required by

2881-772: The Non-National Security (NNS) classification marking scheme in Australia was unified into one structure. As of 2018, the policy detailing how Australian government entities handle classified information is defined in the Protective Security Policy Framework (PSPF). The PSPF is published by the Attorney-General's Department and covers security governance, information security , personal security, and physical security .  A security classification can be applied to

2948-546: The U.S. ) Special Intelligence (SI), which protects intelligence sources and methods, No Foreign dissemination (NoForn), which restricts dissemination to U.S. nationals, and Originator Controlled dissemination (OrCon), which ensures that the originator can track possessors of the information. Information in these compartments is usually marked with specific keywords in addition to the classification level. Government information about nuclear weapons often has an additional marking to show it contains such information ( CNWDI ). When

3015-617: The United Kingdom . In some developing countries, trade secret laws are either non-existent or poorly developed and offer little substantial protection. In many countries, unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a criminal offence, and may be punishable by fines, prison sentence, or even the death penalty, depending on the severity of the violation. For less severe violations, civil sanctions may be imposed, ranging from reprimand to revoking of security clearance and subsequent termination of employment. Whistleblowing

3082-471: The United Kingdom and other members of the British Empire used Most Secret , but this was later changed to match the United States' category name of Top Secret in order to simplify Allied interoperability. The Washington Post reported in an investigation entitled "Top Secret America" that, as of 2010, "An estimated 854,000 people ... hold top-secret security clearances" in the United States. It

3149-503: The classification systems vary from country to country, most have levels corresponding to the following British definitions (from the highest level to lowest). Top Secret is the highest level of classified information. Information is further compartmented so that specific access using a code word after top secret is a legal way to hide collective and important information. Such material would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security if made publicly available. Prior to 1942,

3216-451: The current FOUO and related markings to protect unclassified information. No extension of the previous December 31, 2020 timeline has been proposed, which has now passed, and it is currently unclear what action, if any, will be taken on this request. The Department of Defense has clarified the policy on legacy markings such as FOUO. "Information previously marked as FOUO does not need to be re-marked as long it remains under DoD control or

3283-455: The definition of classified ought to be information that would cause injury to the cause of justice, human rights, etc., rather than information that would cause injury to the national interest; to distinguish when classifying information is in the collective best interest of a just society, or merely the best interest of a society acting unjustly to protect its people, government, or administrative officials from legitimate recourses consistent with

3350-660: The effort due to a lack of resources. The policy recommendation continued to be worked within DHS and the rest of government as part of the Program Manager for the Information Sharing Environment, which moved from DHS to the ODNI. While the executive order, rescission of the order, and subsequent policy structure worked their way through the government, the timeline for the study/ analysis, creation of

3417-406: The employee agrees not to work for competitors or start their own competing business within a certain time or geographical limit. Unlike personal and private information, there is no internationally recognized framework protecting trade secrets , or even an agreed-upon definition of the term “trade secret”. However, many countries and political jurisdictions have taken the initiative to account for

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3484-603: The foreign government providing the source information. Special handling instructions are used to indicate particular precautions for information handling. They include: A releasability caveat restricts information based on citizenship . The three in use are: Additionally, the PSPF outlines Information Management Markers (IMM) as a way for entities to identify information that is subject to non-security related restrictions on access and use. These are: There are three levels of document classification under Brazilian Law No. 12.527,

3551-619: The guidelines previously outlined within it were expanded upon to improve uniformity across all Federal agencies and to develop a standard policy regarding the controlled unclassification process itself. In a similar previous effort, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Reducing Information Control Designations Act, H.R. 1323 , on March 17, 2009. The bill was referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of

3618-559: The individual is required as well. The EU passed the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), replacing the earlier Data Protection Directive . The regulation was adopted on 27 April 2016. It became enforceable from 25 May 2018 after a two-year transition period and, unlike a directive, it does not require national governments to pass any enabling legislation, and is thus directly binding and applicable. "The proposed new EU data protection regime extends

3685-406: The information itself or an asset that holds information e.g., a USB or laptop . The Australian Government uses four security classifications: OFFICIAL: Sensitive, PROTECTED, SECRET and TOP SECRET. The relevant security classification is based on the likely damage resulting from compromise of the information’s confidentiality.. All other information from business operations and services requires

3752-476: The information. Some corporations and non-government organizations also assign levels of protection to their private information, either from a desire to protect trade secrets , or because of laws and regulations governing various matters such as personal privacy , sealed legal proceedings and the timing of financial information releases. With the passage of time much classified information can become less sensitive, and may be declassified and made public. Since

3819-422: The late twentieth century there has been freedom of information legislation in some countries, whereby the public is deemed to have the right to all information that is not considered to be damaging if released. Sometimes documents are released with information still considered confidential obscured ( redacted ), as in the adjacent example. The question exists among some political science and legal experts whether

3886-426: The permission or knowledge of its holder. The use of spies is a part of national intelligence gathering in most countries, and has been used as a political strategy by nation-states since ancient times. It is unspoken knowledge in international politics that countries are spying on one another all the time, even their allies. Computer security is information security applied to computing and network technology, and

3953-453: The popular hacktivist slogan " information wants to be free " reflects some of the cultural shifts in perception towards political and government secrecy. The popular, controversial WikiLeaks is just one of many manifestations of a growing cultural sentiment that is becoming an additional challenge to the security and integrity of classified information. Controlled Unclassified Information Controlled Unclassified Information ( CUI )

4020-429: The process of doing so. The confidentiality of sensitive business information is established through non-disclosure agreements , a legally binding contract between two parties in a professional relationship. NDAs may be one-way, such as in the case of an employee receiving confidential information about the employing organization, or two-way between businesses needing to share information with one another to accomplish

4087-401: The recent years as increasing amounts of sensitive information at every level have found their primary existence in digital form. At the personal level, credit card fraud , internet fraud , and other forms of identity theft have become widespread concerns that individuals need to be aware of on a day-to-day basis. The existence of large databases of classified information on computer networks

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4154-475: The scope of the EU data protection law to all foreign companies processing data of EU residents. It provides for a harmonisation of the data protection regulations throughout the EU, thereby making it easier for non-European companies to comply with these regulations; however, this comes at the cost of a strict data protection compliance regime with severe penalties of up to 4% of worldwide turnover." The GDPR also brings

4221-572: The time, John Ratcliffe , issued a memorandum to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs asking the President of the United States ( President Trump ) to rescind EO 13556. In the memo, Director Ratcliffe referred to the policies as "exponentially more complex", and "vastly overcomplicated". According to the memo "As currently conceived, instead of simplifying and replacing

4288-422: The unified sensitive information framework, the United States has implemented significant amount of privacy legislation pertaining to different specific aspects of data privacy, with emphasis to privacy in healthcare, financial, e-commerce, educational industries, and both on federal and state levels. Whether being regulated or self regulated, the laws require to establish ways at which access to sensitive information

4355-483: The violation of commercial confidentiality in their criminal or civil laws. For example, under the US Economic Espionage Act of 1996 , it is a federal crime in the United States to misappropriate trade secrets with the knowledge that it will benefit a foreign power, or will injure the owner of the trade secret. More commonly, breach of commercial confidentiality falls under civil law, such as in

4422-448: The world, personally identifiable information is protected by information privacy laws , which outline limits to the collection and use of personally identifiable information by public and private entities. Such laws usually require entities to give clear and unambiguous notice to the individual of the types of data being collected, its reason for collection, and planned uses of the data. In consent-based legal frameworks, explicit consent of

4489-484: Was coined by the authors of the study which reviewed over 140 various forms of unclassified information in use throughout the federal government at the time. Authors of the study recommended a new doctrine and policy framework and recommended that ISOO, within the NARA, be charged with implementing and overseeing the new doctrine and policy. At the time of delivery of the policy framework, NARA voiced objections to undertaking

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