SECURITY CLASSIFICATION AND ACCESS CONTROL MARKINGS AUTHORIZED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER 11652

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86-00674R000200040008-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 25, 2007
• Sequence Number: 8
• Content Type: MEMO

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INTERAGENCY CLASSIFICATION REVIEW COMMITTEE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20408
MEMORANDUM FOR:
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION AND ACCESS
CONTROL MARKINGS AUTHORIZED BY
EXECUTIVE ORDER 11652
The Interagency Classification Review Committee was established by
Section 7(A) of Executive Order 11652 to assist the National Security
Council in the discharge of its responsibility to monitor implementation
of the Order. In particular, the Executive order charges the Committee to
receive, consider and take action on suggestions and complaints with
respect to the administration of the Order.
Recently, two specific problem.areas have been brought to the attention
of the Committee de d immediate correcti e act " n,.The first
of these problems-is the distribution o documents both within and without
the originating Departments which bear markingsauthor_ized by the Executive
order, specifically,"Top Secret- 'Secretand "Confidential," but
which do not meet the criteria established by the Executive order to
qualify as material requiring protection in the interests of national
security. Examples of such markings are "(Agency) Confidential" and
"Conference Confidential." Experience shows that, in most instances,
such markings are applied not to designate the i.nformati.on as.'that
requiring protection in the interests of national security, but rather,
to designate it as information which may be withheld from public release
under the exemptions provided for in the Freedom of Information Act,
as amended, other than 5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(1). In other instances,
investigation reveals that the unauthorized application of Executive order
classification markings derives from a lack of understanding on the
part of Departmental personnel of classification criteria and procedures.
The improper use of authorized classification markings results in (1)
confusion on the. part of recipients as to whether such information
qualifies as national security information, (2) proliferation of unnec-
essarily classified information and (3) degradation of the classification
system.
Section 1 of Executive Order 11652 is clear in its proscription of
security classification markings other than Top Secret, Secret and
Confidential. This section of the Order states that "No other
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categories shall be used to identify official information or material as
requiring protection in the interests of national security, except as
otherwise expressly provided by statute." Accordingly, the use of the
terms "Top Secret", "Secret" and "Confidential"should be strictly
reserved to designate that information qualifying as national security
information.
The second problem which has come to the attention of the Committee has
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"sensitive" in conjunc ion with authorized'-classification markings.
Presumably, the use of such terms is intended to indicate that classified
documents so marked are to receive limited and controlled distribution
and dissemination. However, outside the originating department,
this and similar unauthorized terms have no generally understood meaning.
Consequently, when a classified document is so marked, confusion on
the part of the recipient with respect to the handling of and extracting
from the document prevails. Further, the use of such terms tends to
connote the existence of security classifications other than those
prescribed in the Order. This, in itself, has been a subject of major
concern to the Congress over the past few years:duri_ng hearings associated
with proposed classification legislation.
Concerning the use of access control designations in conjunction with
authorized classifications, Sections 8 and 9 of the Executive order
provide instruction relative to the handling and distribution of material
covered by the Atomic Energy Act and for material covered by special
departmental arrangements. Similarly, Section IV, H., of the May 17,
1972 National Security Council Directive Governing the Classification,
Downgrading, Declassification and Safeguarding of National Security
Information prescribes the application of warning notices to be displayed
on classified documents. For information covered by these sections,
mutually agreed upon and authorized designations such as "Secret/Restricted
Data," "Top Secret/(Codewordj," "Secret/CNWDI" and the like have been
developed. The use of such mutually agreed upon inter-agency terms in
a restricted sector of the executive branch presents no problems or
confusion. Rather, it is the use of unauthorized terms or terms for
which the meaning is not clear which causes the confusion..
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In those situations where there is not a mutually agreed upon inter-agency
term such as those described above, it would appear that strict adherence
to the principle that any classified document shall be released only to
persons properly cleared and who have a "need-to-know" the information
in order to carry out their official duties will normally achieve the
desired degree of control over the information. If, in a special
situation, it is deemed necessary to inform recipients of certain
documents that release is intended only to certain persons, then the
appropriate authorized dissemination instructions should be included in
the body of the text of the document or added as a special notation
separate and apart (e.g., on,a separate line) from the security
classification marking.
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It is requested that the above be given appropriate dissemination within
your Department and that you take such further action as may be necessary
to assure that security classification markings are in conformance with
those set forth in Executive Order 11652 and its implementing National
Security Council Directive of May 17, 1972. Please provide the Executive
Director of the Committee a copy of any action paper you may develop
based on this request.
JAMES B. RHOADS
Acting Chairman
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