Is it permissible for an OCA to consider declassified foreign government information for original classification?

Is it permissible for an OCA to consider declassified foreign government information for original classification?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Only with ISOO approval
• D. Only if the information is currently declassified but still sensitive

Answer: (B)

Original classification decisions must rest on information's current sensitivity and the harm that its disclosure would cause today. If foreign government information has already been declassified, it has been determined to pose no current protection risk. Using that declassified material as a basis to create new, original classification would misrepresent what actually needs safeguarding and would undermine the purpose of declassification—that the information can be disclosed without endangering national security. An OCA should evaluate the material on hand for its own characteristics and present security implications, not rely on a past status of foreign information. If new facts emerge that genuinely increase sensitivity, a reclassification could be considered, but that must be grounded in current realities, not in the prior declassification of foreign material. Therefore, using declassified foreign government information as the basis for original classification is not permissible.

Original classification decisions must rest on information's current sensitivity and the harm that its disclosure would cause today. If foreign government information has already been declassified, it has been determined to pose no current protection risk. Using that declassified material as a basis to create new, original classification would misrepresent what actually needs safeguarding and would undermine the purpose of declassification—that the information can be disclosed without endangering national security.

An OCA should evaluate the material on hand for its own characteristics and present security implications, not rely on a past status of foreign information. If new facts emerge that genuinely increase sensitivity, a reclassification could be considered, but that must be grounded in current realities, not in the prior declassification of foreign material. Therefore, using declassified foreign government information as the basis for original classification is not permissible.