DoJ security officials stated that they are waiting for an interagency working group to arrive at government-wide standards for sensitive but unclassified information, likely by the end of December, before considering additional changes in its sensitive but unclassified practices or those of its components, according to the report.
It said the components the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Criminal Division, DEA, FBI and US Marshals Service – had orders and directives that identified and defined the various designations for sensitive but unclassified information that components were using, but that they lacked specific guides, with examples, to help employees decide whether information merits a sensitive but unclassified designation.
Further, none of the components had training to help employees make these decisions or oversight of their designation practices, GAO said.
It said it recently identified similar problems at several other agencies and recommended that they implement such controls, which the agencies agreed to do.
