Where do you get your information?
Terminology
Derivative Classification Activity 1996-2011
In the U.S., information is called "classified" if it has been assigned one of the three levels: Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret. Information that is not so labeled is called "Unclassified information". The term
declassified is used for information that has had its classification removed, and
downgraded refers to information that has been assigned a lower classification level but is still classified. Many documents are automatically downgraded and then declassified after some number of years.[
citation needed] The U.S. government uses the terms
Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU),
Sensitive Security Information (SSI),
Critical Program Information (CPI),
For Official Use Only(FOUO), or
Law Enforcement Sensitive (LES) to refer to information that is not Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret, but whose dissemination is still restricted. Reasons for such restrictions can include
export controls,
privacy regulations, court orders, and ongoing criminal investigations, as well as national security. Information that was never classified is sometimes referred to as "open source" by those who work in classified activities.
Public Safety Sensitive (PSS) refers to information that is similar to Law Enforcement Sensitive but could be shared between the various public safety disciplines (Law Enforcement, Fire, and Emergency Medical Services).
Peter Louis Galison, a historian and Director
[11] in the History of Science Dept. at Harvard University, claims that the U.S. Government produces more classified information than unclassified information.
[12]