Recommendation 8: Strengthening the Authorities of the National Declassification Center (NDC)

by Bill Leary, posted in Declassification

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 its information … Continue reading Recommendation 8: Strengthening the Authorities of the National Declassification Center (NDC)

Recommendations 2 and 3: A Two-tiered Classification System and the Use of Identifiable Levels of Protection to Define Classification Level

by Marty Faga, posted in Declassification

“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   … Continue reading Recommendations 2 and 3: A Two-tiered Classification System and the Use of Identifiable Levels of Protection to Define Classification Level

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT: The Public Interest Declassification Board Announces its December 6, 2012 Meeting

by Nancy Soderberg, posted in Public Meetings

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 … Continue reading NEW ANNOUNCEMENT: The Public Interest Declassification Board Announces its December 6, 2012 Meeting

The PIDB Announces the Upcoming Public Release of its Report to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System

by Nancy Soderberg, posted in PIDB Reports

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 … Continue reading The PIDB Announces the Upcoming Public Release of its Report to the President on Transforming the Security Classification System

Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists: “Set a Mandatory Performance Goal to Catalyze Transformation”

by US National Archives, posted in Declassification

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 … Continue reading Steven Aftergood, Federation of American Scientists: “Set a Mandatory Performance Goal to Catalyze Transformation”

Harry Cooper: “Transforming the National Security Classification Process: A Perspective On the Way Ahead”

by US National Archives, posted in Declassification

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 … Continue reading Harry Cooper: “Transforming the National Security Classification Process: A Perspective On the Way Ahead”

Sharon Bradford Franklin and Alison Roach, The Constitution Project: “Reining in Excessive Secrecy: Recommendations for Reform of the Classification System”

by US National Archives, posted in Declassification

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 … Continue reading Sharon Bradford Franklin and Alison Roach, The Constitution Project: “Reining in Excessive Secrecy: Recommendations for Reform of the Classification System”