Classified information in the United States: Encyclopedia II - Classified information in the United States - Levels of Classification used by the U.S. Government

Classified information in the United States - Levels of Classification used by the U.S. Government

The United States Government classifies information according to the degree which the unauthorized disclosure would damage national security:

Classified information in the United States - Top secret

This is the highest security level (Level 5) that is publicly disclosed, and is defined as information which would cause "exceptionally grave damage" to national security if disclosed to the public. Despite public mystique, little information is classified at "Top Secret" when compared to the other levels of classification. Only that which is exceptionally sensitive (weapon design, presidential security information, nuclear-related projects, various intelligence information) is classified at the Top Secret level. In other cases the nature of the gathering method used to obtain the information is what causes the information to be classified "Top Secret", though the information itself may be mundane and unimportant. Examples would be signal interceptions (SIGINT) or human intelligence (HUMINT).

Classified information in the United States - Secret

The second highest classification (Level 4). Information is classified secret when its release would cause "serious damage" to national security. Most information that is classified is held at the secret sensitivity.

Classified information in the United States - Confidential

The lowest classification level (Level 3). It is defined as information which would "damage" national security if disclosed.

Classified information in the United States - Unclassified

Unclassified is not technically a "classification", this is the default, and refers to information which can be released to individuals without a clearance (Level 1 & 2) Information that is unclassified is sometimes restricted in its dissemination as SBU or FOUO, For Official Use Only. For example, the "law enforcement bulletins" often reported by the U.S. media when United States Department of Homeland Security raises the U.S. terror threat level are usually classified as "U//LES" or "Unclassified - Law Enforcement Sensitive." This information is only supposed to be released to Law Enforcement groups (Sheriff, Police, etc.) Because the information is unclassified, however, it is sometimes released to the public as well. Information which is unclassified, but which the government does not believe should be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests is often classified as U//FOUO - Unclassified-For Official Use Only. In addition to FOUO information, information can be categorized according to its availability to be distributed (Distribution D may only be released to approved Department of Defense and Government Contractor persons). Also, the statement of NOFORN (meaning No Foreign Nationals) is applied to any information which may not be released to any non-US Citizen. NOFORN and Distribution statements are often used in conjunction with classified information or alone on SBU information. Documents subject to export controls have a specific warning to that effect.

Use of information restrictions outside the classification system is growing in the U.S. government. In September 2005, J. William Leonard, director of the U.S. National Archives Information Security Oversight Office was quoted in the press as saying "No one individual in government can identify all the controlled, unclassified [categories], let alone describe their rules." [2]

Classified information in the United States - Restricted

During and before World War II, the U.S. had a category of classified information called restricted, which was below confidential. The U.S. no longer has a restricted classification, but many other nations and NATO do. The U.S. treats "restricted" information it receives from other governments as confidential. The U.S. does use the term restricted data in a completely different way to refer to nuclear secrets, as described below.

Classified information in the United States - Above Top Secret?

A common question about U.S. classified information is whether a level above Top Secret exists. Looked at one way, the answer is almost certainly no. Executive Order 13292 clearly states the Top Secret is the highest level of classification (Level 5). If there were some secret Executive Order that created a still higher level, there could be questions of adequate legal notice if someone mishandling that information were to be prosecuted. On the other hand, if a U.S. government agency wants to create a program so secret that the program's name itself is known to only a short list of hand picked individuals who have been recently subjected to the most thorough and intrusive vetting process imaginable, they can do so under the code word and special access provisions of Executive Order 13292. Stringent additional security measures beyond those prescribed for ordinary Top Secret can also be required for the program, which would none the less still be classified at the Top Secret level, but with a code name and other markings added. As a practical matter the distinction is mostly semantic.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Levels of Classification used by the U.S. Government", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki