Prescribing Regulations Establishing Minimum Standards for the Classification, Transmission, and Handling, by Department and 10290 Agencies of the Executive Branch, of Official Information Which Requires Safeguarding in the Interest of the Security of the United States Signed: September 24, 1951 Federal Register page and date: 16 FR 9795, September 27, 1951 Revoked by: EO 10501, November 5, 1953 See: EO 9835, March 21, 1947; EO 10816, May 7, 1959; EO 10964, September 20, 1961 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Executive Order 10290 Statement by the President Upon Signing Executive Order Prescribing Regulations for Classifying and Protecting Security Information. September 25, 1951 I HAVE today signed an Executive order to strengthen our safeguards against divulging to potential enemies information harmful to the security of the United States. This order provides, for the first time, uniform standards for classifying and protecting security information throughout the executive branch of the Government. At the same time, the order prohibits the classification of any information by any agency unless it can show affirmatively that disclosure of the information would harm the national security. Therefore, some agencies will never have occasion to institute classification and many of the others will have only infrequent need to do so. The necessity for this order arises from the fact that security information occasionally involves, and must be handled by, agencies which normally do not handle security matters. The order requires them to protect security matters in the same manner as they would be protected in one of the key defense agencies which have traditional classification systems. On the other hand, the order prohibits any agency from classifying nonsecurity matters. The American people have a fundamental right to information about their Government, and there is no element of censorship, either direct or implied, in this order. The order applies only to officials and employees of the executive branch of the Government. The public is requested to cooperate, but is under no compulsion or threat of penalty to do so as a result of this order. Furthermore, I have directed every agency to keep constant watch over its classification activities for the purpose of reducing or eliminating classifications wherever and whenever conditions permit. I expect each department head or his designated subordinate to investigate promptly and carefully any alleged instance of unjustified use of security classifications. As the result of these policies, and as the result of the clear segregation of security from nonsecurity information, I hope that the American people will receive more, rather than less, information about their Government as a result of this Executive order. Under the order, any agency which originates an item of security information is directed to mark it with the words "security information" plus one of the four following classifications: "top secret, .... secret, .... confidential," or "restricted." The Order specifies the precautions then to be taken in accordance with these classifications, ranging from the most stringent precautions for "top secret" to the minimum precautions for "restricted." The four classifications are the standard marking used by the Departments of Defense and State and no new security classifications are authorized. To assure that this order is carried out in the spirit in which it was issued I have also directed the National Security Council, through its Interdepartmental Committee on Internal Security, to maintain a continuing review of classification activities in all agencies with a view to achieving uniform compliance with this order, both as to safeguarding security information and to prevent the classification procedure from being used to withhold information which can be divulged without harm to the national security. NOTE: The President referred to Executive Order 10290, dated September 24, 1951, and entitled "Prescribing Regulations Establishing Minimum Standards for the Classification, Transmission, and Handling by Departments and Agencies of the Executive Branch, of Official Information Which Requires Safeguarding in the Interest of the Security of the United States" (3 CFR, 1949-1953 Comp., p. 789). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Memorandum on the Executive Order Prescribing Regulations for Classifying and Protecting Security Information. September 25, 1951 To Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies : I have today signed an Executive Order prescribing minimum standards for the classification, transmission and handling of official information relating to the security of the Nation. This order will apply to all Departments and agencies in the Executive Branch of the Government and, therefore, it is of the highest importance that the responsible officials of all agencies familiarize themselves with its requirements and understand its purposes. In this connection I want to emphasize particularly several aspects of this Executive Order. In the past relatively few agencies, such as the Departments of State and Defense, have had a need to classify information for security purposes. Now, however, with the broad ramifications of our national security effort, many additional agencies are required to handle classified security information. This, in turn, has made it necessary to prescribe these minimum standards for application throughout the Executive Branch of the Government. However, I want it clearly understood in all agencies, defense and non-defense, that these regulations are to be used exclusively to safeguard the security of the Nation and are not to be used, under any circumstances, for any other purpose. It is my hope that the practical effect of these regulations will be to make more, rather than less, information about the Government available to the people. This should result from the segregation of security information from nonsecurity information. To put the matter bluntly, these regulations are designed to keep security information away from potential enemies and must not be used to withhold non-security information or to cover up mistakes made by any official or employee of the Government. In order to prevent any misunderstanding about this, these regulations prohibit the use of security classifications on non-security information even when the disclosure of such non-security information is forbidden by law (as in the case of census and income tax information). This policy is spelled out in paragraph 3 of Part I of the Regulation. Your attention is directed specifically to the fact that paragraph 25(b) Of Part IV requires that security information "shall be assigned the lowest security classification consistent with its proper protection" and that paragraph 28(c) of Part IV directs that "It shall be the responsibility and obligation of every Government official to keep classified security information in his custody constantly under review, and to initiate action toward downgrading or declassification as soon as conditions warrant." Strict adherence to these provisions is absolutely essential for, otherwise, overclassification or failure to downgrade or declassify in timely fashion will defeat the very purpose of these regulations. In order to further the above objectives of protecting that information upon which the security of the Nation depends, of limiting classification to purely security matters, of using the lowest appropriate classification, and of downgrading or declassifying information as rapidly as conditions permit, I have directed the National Security Council through its Interdepartmental Committee on Internal Security to furnish advice and assistance to the Departments and agencies in connection with these regulations and to maintain a continuing review of the classification activities in every department or agency to insure uniform and proper application of these regulations, including declassification whenever possible. I wish to urge upon every Department and agency head conscientious adherence to the spirit and letter of these regulations in the interest of safeguarding the national security on the one hand, and the protection of the public's right to information on the other hand. In the latter connection, I expect each Department head or his designated subordinate to investigate promptly and carefully any alleged instance of unjustified use of security classifications. In considering such instances and indeed in original determinations on classification, it should be borne in mind that improper application of the classification powers is repulsive to our democratic form of Government and burdens Government procedures with unnecessary and expensive restrictions. HARRY S. TRUMAN