Definitions.

Checkout our iOS App for a better way to browser and research.

§ 503.51 Definitions.

(a) Access means the ability or opportunity to gain knowledge of classified information.

(b) Classification means the act or process by which information is determined to be classified information.

(c) Classification guide means a documentary form of instruction or source that prescribes the classification of specific information issued by an original classification authority that identifies the elements of information regarding a specific subject that must be classified and establishes the level and duration of classification for each such element.

(d) Classified national security information (hereafter “classified information”) means information that has been determined pursuant to Executive Order 12958 or any predecessor order in force to require protection against unauthorized disclosure and is marked to indicate its classified status when in documentary form.

(e) Commission means the Federal Maritime Commission.

(f) Declassification means the authorized change in the status of information from classified information to unclassified information.

(g) Derivative classification means the incorporating, paraphrasing, restating or generating in new form information that is already classified, and marking the newly developed material consistent with the classification markings that apply to the source information. Derivative classification includes the classification of information based on classification guidance. The duplication or reproduction of existing classified information is not derivative classification.

(h) Downgrading means a determination by a declassification authority that information classified and safeguarded at a specified level shall be classified and safeguarded at a lower level.

(i) Foreign government information means:

(1) Information provided to the United States Government by a foreign government or governments, an international organization of governments, or any element thereof, with the expectation that the information, the source of the information, or both, are to be held in confidence;

(2) Information produced by the United States pursuant to or as a result of a joint arrangement with a foreign government or governments, or an international organization of governments, or any element thereof, requiring that the information, the arrangement, or both, are to be held in confidence; or

(3) Information received and treated as “Foreign Government Information” under the terms of Executive Order 13526 or any predecessor order.

(j) Mandatory declassification review means the review for declassification of classified information in response to a request for declassification that meets the requirements under section 3.5 of Executive Order 13526.

(k) Multiple sources means two or more source documents, classification guides, or a combination of both.

(l) National security means the national defense or foreign relations of the United States.

(m) Need to know means a determination made by an authorized holder of classified information that a prospective recipient requires access to specific classified information in order to perform or assist in a lawful and authorized governmental function.

(n) Original classification means an initial determination that information requires, in the interest of national security, protection against unauthorized disclosure.

(o) Original classification authority means an individual authorized in writing, either by the President, or by agency heads or other officials designated by the President, to classify information in the first instance.

(p) Self-inspection means the internal review and evaluation of individual Commission activities and the Commission as a whole with respect to the implementation of the program established under Executive Order 13526 and its implementing directives.

(q) Senior agency official means the official designated by the Chairman under section 5.4(d) of Executive Order 13526 to direct and administer the Commission's program under which classified information is safeguarded.

(r) Source document means an existing document that contains classified information that is incorporated, paraphrased, restated, or generated in new form into a new document.

(s) Unauthorized disclosure means a communication or physical transfer of classified information to an unauthorized recipient.

[64 FR 23547, May 3, 1999, as amended at 76 FR 10263, Feb. 24, 2011]


Download our app to see the most-to-date content.