Federal Bureaucracy Gets Worse

The Bush administration, ever trying to retain its grasp on information within the federal government, offered up a set of new restrictions to replace the "For Official Use Only (FOUO)" designation in 2007. New guidance came out in May 2008, but the "Controlled Unclassified Information" label was limited to "terrorism related information". Al Kamen reports that the Defense Department is getting ready to implement the guidance.

"Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) is the new generic term to be used for information that is not releasable to the public; however, DoD [Department of Defense] components are not to use these new markings until the DoD transition plan is completed and the DoD-level implementation guidance has been published," a Nov. 21 e-mail explained.

" 'For Official Use Only' (FOUO) is being phased out and CUI will replace all current DoD markings used on unclassified information including Privacy Act, and Law Enforcement Sensitive," according to the e-mail. "The purpose is to improve information sharing with state, local, private sector, and foreign partner entities. This will also ensure appropriate safeguarding and dissemination of the Department's sensitive, unclassified information."

The CUI designation doesn't mean you can't get the stuff under the Freedom of Information Act, but it doesn't mean you can, either.

To help officials figure out what can be released, the e-mail says, "All CUI will be categorized into one of three combinations of safeguarding procedures and dissemination controls:

• Controlled with Standard Dissemination;
• Controlled with Specified Dissemination;
• Controlled Enhanced with Specified Dissemination.

 Working groups have been established to continue implementing the transition plan."

Can't issue guidance to change an existing bureaucratic method without a transition plan. Only the federal government could make the complicated process of releasing unclassified information that could be of public interest even more difficult than it is today. The Federation of American Scientists has more background material.

Comments

[Ralph H.]

Yes, this is shaping up to be a bureaucratic mess in spite of a longstanding leglislative solution -- the Freedom of Information Act and its exemptions. This problem would evaporate with some creative wordsmithing of exemptions 2, 5, 6, and 7. We would all welcome a single interagency marking, whether OUO, FOUO, CUI, whatever. One marking, plus a supplementary stamp to identify which FOIA exemption applied or other authorized terminology such as UCNI.