From: tbyfield@panix.com (Ted Byfield)
Date: Wed, 9 Aug 95 20:01:42 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: >actual< classification categories
Message-ID: <v02120d02ac4f2da4df4f@[166.84.253.144]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


I have copies of declassified documents with the following markings:

        secret                 (1985)
        top secret             (1986)
        classified             (1984)
        confidential           (1985)
        eyes only              (1986)

Some have various combinations, such as:

        secret/sensitive
        top secret/sensitive
        eyes only/top secret/sensitive

This isn't a complete list, but it's better than idle speculation.

The vast majority of declassified paper documents that I've seen (not a
small number) have explicit statements regarding _who_ is allowed to see
it, _how_ they are allowed to move and/or distribute it, control #s and
copy #s, semicomprehensible strings of characters, and so on; many have
thiings like destruction instructions and expiry dates. More and more,
slight variations are being introduced into each version for purposes of
compartmentalization. It's conceivable that this is the source of the typo
Hal spotted, but I doubt it. The fact that specific instrux were relegated
to a separate "label file" seems very suspect; the fact that the warning
tag is tacked onto the end is maybe noteworthy--it's in a different format,
which is possibly odd, but it might've been put there for silly theatrical
purposes.
        Basically, "top secret" without further comment is James Bond
stuff, since in and of itself it doesn't tell those who need to know what
they need to know.
        My guess is that someone stuck the "top secret" stuff on the
beginning and end of something they found. But that doesn't make it a hoax,
necessarily.

Ted