overclassification

A Simple 'Explainer' of Some Classification Terms

The expected release this afternoon of the report by the President's review group on the National Security Agency's (NSA) mass surveillance programs will, we hope, spur a deeper discussion about government secrecy, including issues with our classification system. To help people who might not be as familiar with some of the terms regularly used by those who work on classification policy, we have put together some basic slides to explain the differences between information that is properly marked and appropriately classified and between original and derivative classification. We have also put together a slide explaining overclassification. Click "Read More" to see the slides.

12/18/2013

Legislation Aimed at Reforming Classification System Introduced

Last week Senators Shaheen and Risch introduced a bill that would help push forward some of the proposals made last year by the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) to improve the classification and declassification system.

08/06/2013

Shared Agenda for Openness and Accountability

Since 2011, more than 20 national organizations committed to improving openness and accountability have worked together to identify policy priorities and specific recommendations for improving and strengthening federal government openness.

07/26/2013

Openness Groups Call for Classification Reform Leadership

Thirty groups, including OpenTheGovernment.org, joined the Brennan Center for Justice in a letter calling for the White House to take the lead in security classification reform. The openness organizations called for the prompt establishment of a steering committee including White House Leadership to address overclassification.

04/30/2013

A Deep Dive in the US' National Action Plan: Declassify National Security Information

In our final evaluation of the government's efforts to meet the open government commitments it included in the 2011 US National Action Plan, we characterized many of the steps the government promised to take as "small." Rather than taking bold measures to address pressing transparency issues, the Plan includes to make commitments that were less ambitious and more easily attained. The Administration's commitment related to declassification of historical documents is more accurately described as something less than a small step, however: the commitment -- to set up the National Declassification Center -- was something that the government had already completed well in advance of the release of the Plan. President Obama's Executive Order on Classified National Security Information, EO 13526, required the creation of the NDC at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The Center began operations in January 2010.

04/25/2013

4.8 Million Security Clearances: A Symptom of Excessive Secrecy

Nearly 5 million people are cleared for access to our government’s protected information. That’s certainly a lot, considering Executive Order 12968 instructs agencies to keep clearances for access to classified information to a minimum. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, the ranking member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, asked the Government Accountability Office to shed some light on how the clearance designations were made. GAO’s answer? Inconsistently and sometimes, incorrectly. But what’s missing from the GAO’s recommendations for a more effective and efficient security clearance system is the role of overclassification.

07/27/2012

Intell Comittees' Leak Proposal Ignores the Source

Steve Aftergood over at Secrecy News has posted a great write-up and analysis of the proposal to handle unauthorized leaks of national security information that the leadership of the Intelligence Committees' plans to attach to the Fiscal Year (FY) Intelligence Authorization bill. The proposal will be a part of the Senate version of the bill, which will be released in full as early as Friday, July 27.

07/26/2012