Fiscal 2004 saw over 15.6 million original and mostly
derivative classification decisions, a 10 percent increase
over 2003, according to a summary of security
classification program activity from the information
security oversight office that cautions agencies to cut
back on the practice.
However, it said data showing a steady increase in
classifications from 2002 through the present is not
“conclusively” attributable to a “phenomenon of
over–classification” – and cited a challenging
geopolitical situation, increases in war fighting
activity and IT development that have increased the
government’s ability to produce information overall.
Yet, while it is essential, the classification system
for national security information can be a “double
edged sword,” and “should not be an automatic first
principle,” said ISOO.
It cautioned that original classifications have a
“ripple effect” throughout the entire executive
branch and can impede information sharing with those
who have a legitimate need or right to know, whether
they be agency, state or local officials of the public.
Approximately 4,000 officials have original
classification authority and their decisions can lead
to hundreds or thousands of the kind of derivative
classifications that make up 92 percent of the 2004
total, said ISOO.
It called on agencies to improve classification guidelines
and said that derivative classifiers “must be able to
trace the origins of every act of derivatively
classifying information to an explicit decision” made by
someone with “original classification authority,” adding
that “agencies must ensure that they are appropriately
implementing original classification decisions,” the
report said.
