The Public Interest Declassification Board received recognition at a recent academic conference titled The Legal and Civil Policy Implications of “Leaks” at the American University Washington College of Law.  A panel focusing on the legislative response to “leaks” discussed what impact over-classification and the current state of the security classification system have on the prevalence [...]

The members and staff of the Public Interest Declassification Board attended and participated in many events last week to commemorate Sunshine Week.  We would like to thank the representatives from agencies, civil society and open government advocacy groups, the Congress, the public and all the attendees who participated in these panels and events.  The Board [...]

Sunshine Week is an annual initiative, which coincides with national Freedom of Information Day and James Madison’s birthday (March 16), designed to raise awareness of the importance of citizen access to Government records. As we commemorate Sunshine Week, we reaffirm the principle of an Open Government.  The Public Interest Declassification Board believes that our democratic [...]

Please join the chair of the PIDB, Ambassador Nancy Soderberg, for a discussion about Secrecy and Security: The Future of Classification Reform.  Ambassador Soderberg will discuss the PIDB report and the Board’s future work at a forum hosted by the Brennan Center for Justice on Thursday, March 14, 2013 from 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. [...]

  Photographs courtesy of the National Archives   On behalf of the Board, I want to thank all those who came to our public meeting yesterday at the National Archives.  We delivered our Report to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System last week and released it on our website yesterday.  I also wish [...]

    Photo courtesy of the National Archives   Today, the Public Interest Declassification Board released online its recommendations to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System.  It recommends fundamental changes that ensure the classification system will function fully to protect our nation’s security and to allow for democratic discourse in the 21st century.  [...]

Photographs courtesy of the National Archives   The classification system was created seventy years ago in an era of paper and later copier paper.  Secret information was meant to be shared sparingly and disseminated to only those few Federal Government officials with a “need to know.”  With the end of the Cold War, the classification [...]

  Documents courtesy of the National Archives  and the photograph is courtesy of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.   It is time to allow certain types of historical nuclear information to be reviewed for declassification and public access.  In the aftermath of World War II, the Government recognized the need to keep nuclear weapons information [...]

  Photo courtesy of the National Reconnaissance Office   Executive Order 13526, “Classified National Security Information” and its two predecessors established specific, time-based declassification requirements for all national security agencies.   Despite these identical mandates, a Government-wide approach to declassification remains elusive.  Separate agency declassification programs evolved into a segmented declassification system where each agency reviewed [...]

“It is time to reexamine the long-standing tension between secrecy and openness, and develop a new way of thinking about government secrecy as we move into the next century.” -Report of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy, 1997, Senate Document 105-2, Public Law 236.   Document Courtesy of the National Security Agency   [...]

The Public Interest Declassification Board will host an open meeting on Thursday, December 6, 2012 to discuss its recommendations to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System.  The full Report to the President will be published online on December 6th at http://www.archives.gov/declassification/pidb.  The meeting will focus on the Board’s fourteen recommendations for transformation.  The [...]

The Public Interest Declassification Board is pleased to announce the completion of its report, Transforming the Security Classification System.  The President asked that we study the security classification system and make recommendations for its transformation to better meet the needs of users in the digital age. The report will be released to the public on [...]

Thank you for participating in the Transforming Classification Blog.  The Blog is now closed for comments.  The Board appreciates all of the comments and submissions that were received. We will continue to evaluate the comments and submissions you posted on the blog as we consider what changes to make on how best to transform the classification system in [...]

I read the PIDB papers as well as the submissions from the seven commentators.  Rather than comment through a blog on each of the proposals, I decided to summarize my reactions and raise a few additional issues.  I am numbering the paragraphs to make it easier to see the separate topics. 1. In general, I [...]

On April 26th the Public Interest Declassification Board invited you to submit your ideas on transforming the national security classification system.  The Board received the following papers.  They appear in the order in which they were received: Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists: “Set a Mandatory Performance Goal to Catalyze Transformation” Harry Cooper: “Transforming the [...]

In order to induce a transformation of the national security classification system, the President should set a performance goal that will advance the desired transformation, and then mandate its achievement by executive branch agencies. Instead of trying to specify each and every one of the policy and procedural changes needed for an effective transformation, this [...]

How We Got Here In signing Executive Order 13526 – the 10th Executive Order on National Security Classification signed since Roosevelt’s Order in 1940 – President Obama also stated that he looks forward to “…reviewing recommendations from the study that the National Security Advisor will undertake in cooperation with the Public Interest Declassification Board to [...]

In July 2009, The Constitution Project’s (TCP) bipartisan Liberty and Security Committee published a report entitled Reining in Excessive Secrecy: Recommendations for Reform of the Classification and Controlled Unclassified Information Systems.   This report included fifteen specific recommendations to the Executive Branch and three specific recommendations for Congress, all designed to reform the classification regime.  In [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union commends the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) for recognizing the need to transform our broken national security classification system and for creating a public forum to solicit new and innovative ideas from the American people. The ACLU, a non-partisan organization dedicated to preserving the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and [...]

The Public Interest Declassification Board has offered some excellent proposals to improve the broken security classification system.  To reverse the disturbing trends of massive overclassification and decreasing openness, to put declassification activities on a firmer budgetary foundation, and to focus resources toward protecting true national security secrets, the National Security Archive proposes levying a classification [...]

Background The creation of the National Declassification Center (NDC) by President Obama in December 2009 specifies the centralization and streamlining of all declassification processes with the objective of shortening the time to declassify a document. This enormous task mandates the use of the newest technology to assist with streamlining processes as well as creating consistent, [...]

A “fundamental transformation” of the classification system, as proposed by President Obama, is long overdue. Experts of all political stripes have agreed for decades that overclassification is rampant and that it carries unacceptable costs—to national security, to representative democracy, and to the public fisc. The extent and persistence of the problem underscore the need for [...]

The Public Interest Declassification Board will host a Public Forum on Thursday, May 26, 2011 on Transforming the National Security Classification System.  The meeting will focus on the Board’s eight draft White Papers on transforming classification, the White Papers submitted by the public for the Blog, and additional ideas you have on transforming the classification [...]

Now that you have had the opportunity to review and comment on the Board’s draft proposals for transforming the classification system, we would like to invite you to submit your own specific ideas.  Submissions should: Provide transformative but plausible ideas and actionable implementation strategies Promote innovation and especially address the challenges of classified digital data [...]

Background Classified information concerning the technical design and manufacture of atomic weapons and the production or use of special nuclear material in the production of energy is categorized as Restricted Data (RD) by the Department of Energy (DOE) under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.  Formerly Restricted Data (FRD) is a separate category of information [...]

The PIDB would like to invite you to post your comments on two new proposals for transforming the classification system. The new topics concern: Paper 5: Stewardship of Our Classified History Paper 6: Information Security and Access in the Electronic Environment A forthcoming paper will address historical Formerly Restricted Data. Additionally, be sure to mark [...]

The Problem The current records management system does not ensure those records of historical significance are identified in such a way as to promote their timely review for declassification and public release.  With greater reliance on digital records to decide policies and conduct missions, there is a great danger that, unless changes are made, our [...]

Background Individuals generating or working with classified information are required to obey established procedures for accessing, annotating, handling, and safeguarding that information.  The system is managed much as it was before the advent of digital communication.  Protocols governing these transactions were developed at the beginning of the Cold War and reflect the paper-based world in [...]

The PIDB looks forward to hearing your comments on the following new papers: Paper 3:  Regularizing the Declassification Review of Classified Congressional Records Systematize and prioritize the declassification review of Legislative records at the NDC Paper 4:  Discretionary Declassification and Release of Contemporary National Security Information Encourage policymakers to consider the advantages of not classifying [...]

The Problem The current process by which classified Congressional records are transferred to the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA), reviewed for declassification, and released to the public does not adequately reflect the importance of these records and the special status they must enjoy as records of the Legislative Branch that are managed by the [...]

The Problem Classification and declassification decisions are based on risk assessments and time-based standards for withholding.  Agencies determine whether to protect information through classification by evaluating the damage its release would cause to the national security.  Information deemed worthy of classification is marked as such, assigned a declassification date based on its perceived sensitivity, and [...]

The Problem National security records frequently contain classified information from more than one agency.  Under Executive Order 13526, “Classified National Security Information” (the Order), only the agency that creates classified information can declassify it. [1] If an agency produces a record containing its own information as well as information from one or more other agencies, [...]

Transforming Classification: An Introduction Welcome to Transforming Classification, a blog sponsored by the Public Interest Declassification Board. President Obama has charged the Board with designing a more fundamental transformation of the security classification system. In response to his request, we are proposing new solutions that address the shortcomings of the current system and tackle the [...]

To strengthen the quality of discussion we ask that you follow the following Blog Etiquette: Always ask yourself before you post: Is this advancing the conversation? Does it add new relevant information? Does it raise a concern with a proposal? Does it suggest a way to improve a proposal? Does it express an opinion on [...]

The Problem Advances in the electronic environment have led to a pronounced increase in the amount of classified information being produced.  Staggering volume and scarcity of resources make the eventual human review of these records for declassification impossible.  Human review as it is done today is estimated at two full-time employees (FTEs) per gigabyte.  At [...]

The Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) recommends that a policy be implemented for uniform government-wide metadata standards for classified electronic records (e-records).  The adoption of metadata standards will make declassification review of e-records more effective and efficient.  The current focus on analog records (paper and special media) has kept attention from this looming and monumental [...]