[Executive Orders]
EXECUTIVE ORDER
10501
SAFEGUARDING OFFICIAL INFORMATION IN THE INTERESTS OF THE DEFENSE OF
THE UNITED STATES.
WHEREAS it is essential that the citizens of the United States
be informed concerning the activities of their government; and
WHEREAS the interests of national defense require the preservation
of the ability of the United States to protect and defend itself against
all hostile or destructive action by covert or overt means, including
espionage as well as military action; and
WHEREAS it is essential that certain official information
affecting the national defense be protected uniformly against
unauthorized
disclosure:
NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the
Constitution and statutes, and as President of the United States, and
deeming such action necessary in the best interests of the national
security, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Classification Categories: Official information
which requires protection in the interests of national defense shall be
limited to three categories of classification, which in descending order
of importance shall carry one of the following designations: Top Secret,
Secret, or Confidential. No other designation shall be used to classify
defense information, including military information, as requiring
protection in the interests of national defense, except as expressly
provided by statute. These categories are defined as follows:
(a) Top Secret: Except as may be expressly provided by
statute, the use of the classification Top Secret shall be
authorized, by appropriate authority, only for defense
information or material which requires the highest degree of
protection. The Top Secret classification shall be applied
only to that information or material the defense aspect of
which is paramount, and the unauthorized disclosure of which
could result in exceptionally grave damage to the Nation
such as leading to a definite break in diplomatic relations
affecting the defense of the United States, an armed attack
against the United States or its allies, a war, or the
compromise of military or defense plans, or intelligence
operations, or scientific or technological developments
vital to the national defense.
(b) Secret: Except as may be expressly provided by
statute, the use of the classification Secret shall be
authorized, by appropriate authority, only for defense
information or material the unauthorized disclosure of
which could result in serious damage to the Nation, such
as by jeopardizing the international relations of the
United States, endangering the effectiveness of a program
or policy of vital importance to the national defense, or
compromising important military or defense plans, scientific
or technological developments important to national defense,
or information revealing important intelligence operations.
(c) Confidential: Except as may be expressly provided
by statute, the use of the classification Confidential shall
be authorized, by appropriate authority, only for defense
information or material the unauthorized disclosure of which
could be prejudicial to the defense interests of the nation.
Section 2. Limitation of Authority to Classify: The authority
to classify defense information or material under this order shall be
limited in the departments and agencies of the executive branch as
hereinafter specified. Departments and agencies subject to the specified
limitations shall be designated by the President:
(a) In those departments and agencies having no direct
responsibility for national defense there shall be no authority
for original classification of information or material under
this order.
(b) In those departments and agencies having partial but
not primary responsibility for matters pertaining to national
defense the authority for original classification of information
or material under this order shall be exercised only by the
head of the department or agency, without delegation.
(c) In those departments and agencies not effected by the
provisions of subsection (a) and (b), above, the authority for
original classification of information or material under this
order shall be exercised only by responsible officers or
employees, who shall be specifically designated for this
purpose. Heads of such departments and agencies shall limit the
delegation of authority to classify as severely as is consistent
with the orderly and expeditious transaction of Government
business.
Section 3. Classification: Persons designated to have
authority for original classification of information or material which
requires protection in the interests of national defense under this order
shall be held responsible for its proper classification in accordance with
the definitions of the three categories in section 1, hereof. Unnecessary
classification and over-classification shall be scrupulously avoided.
The following special rules shall be observed in classification of
defense information or material:
(a) Documents in General: Documents shall be classified
according to their own content and not necessarily according to
their relationship to other documents. References to classified
material which do not reveal classified defense information
shall not be classified.
(b) Physically Connected Documents: The classification of
a file or group of physically connected documents shall be at
least as high as that of the most highly classified document
therein. Documents separated from the file of group shall be
handled in accordance with their individual defense classification.
(c) Multiple Classification: A document, product, or
substance shall bear a classification at least as high as that
of its highest classified component. The document, product, or
substance shall bear only one over-all classification,
notwithstanding that pages, paragraphs, sections, or components
thereof bear different classifications.
(d) Transmittal Letters: A letter transmitting defense
information shall be classified at least as high as its highest
classified enclosure.
(e) Information Originated by a Foreign Government or
Organization: Defense information of a classified nature
furnished to the United States by a foreign government or
international organization shall be assigned a classification
which will assure a degree of protection equivalent to or
greater than that required by the government or international
organization which furnished the information.
Section 4. Declassification, Downgrading or Upgrading: Heads
of departments or agencies originating classified material shall designate
persons to be responsible for continuing review of such classified material
for the purpose of declassifying or downgrading it whenever national
defense considerations permit, and for receiving requests for such review
from all sources. Formal procedures shall be established to provide
specific means for prompt review of classified material and its declassifi-
cation or downgrading in order to preserve the effectiveness and integrity
of the classification system and to eliminate accumulation of classified
material which no longer requires protection in the defense interest.
The following special rules shall be observed with respect to changes of
classification of defense material:
(a) Automatic Changes: To the fullest extent practicable,
the classifying authority shall indicate on the material (except telegrams)
at the time of original classification that after a specified event or
date, or upon removal of classified enclosures, the material will be
downgraded or declassified.
(b) Non-Automatic Changes: The persons designated to
receive requests for review of classified material may downgrade or
declassify such material when circumstances no longer warrant its re-
tention in its original classification provided the consent of the
appropriate classifying authority has been obtained. The downgrading
or declassification of extracts from or paraphrases of classified
documents shall also require the consent of the appropriate classifying
authority unless the agency making such extracts knows positively that
they warrant a classification lower than what of the documents from
which extracted, or what they are not classified.
(c) Material Officially Transferred: In the case of material
transferred by or pursuant to statute or Executive order from one depart-
ment or agency to another for the latter's use and as part of its official
files or property, as distinguished from transfers merely for purposes
of storage, the receiving department or agency shall be deemed to be the
classifying authority for all purposes under this order, including
declassification and downgrading.
(d) Material Not Officially Transferred: When any
department or agency has in its possession any classified material which
has become five years old, and it appears (1) that such material originated
in an agency which has since become defunct and whose files and other
property have not been officially transferred to another department or
agency within the meaning of subsection (c), above, or (2) that it is
impossible for the possessing department or agency to identify the
originating agency, and (3) a review of the material indicates that it
should be downgraded or declassified, the said possessing department or
agency shall have power to declassify or downgrade such material. If it
appears probable that another department or agency may have a substantial
interest in whether the classification of any particular information
should be maintained, the possessing department or agency shall not
exercise the power conferred upon it by this subsection, except with the
consent of the other department or agency, until thirty days after it has
notified such other department or agency of the nature of the material
and of its intention to declassify or downgrade the same. During such
thirty-day period the other department or agency may, if it so desires,
express its objections to declassifying or downgrading the particular
material, but the power to make the ultimate decision shall reside in
the possessing department or agency.
(e) Classified Telegrams: Such telegrams shall not be
referred to, extracted from, paraphrased, downgraded, declassified, or
disseminated, except in accordance with special regulations issued by
the head of the originating department or agency. Classified telegrams
transmitted over cryptographic systems shall be handled in accordance
with the regulations of the transmitting department or agency.
(f) Downgrading: If the recipient of classified material
believes that it has been classified too highly, he may make a
request to the reviewing official who may downgrade or declassify
the material after obtaining the consent of the appropriate
classifying authority.
(g) Upgrading: If the recipient of unclassified material
believes that it should be classified, or if the recipient of
classified material believes that its classification is not
sufficiently protective, it shall be safeguarded in accordance
with the classification deemed appropriate and a request made
to the reviewing official, who may classify the material or
upgrade the classification after obtaining the consent of the
appropriate classifying authority.
(h) Notification of Change in Classification: The reviewing
official taking action to declassify, downgrade, or upgrade
classified material shall notify all addressees to whom the
material was originally transmitted.
Section 5. Marking of Classified Material: After a
determination of the proper defense classification to be assigned has been
made in accordance with the provisions of this order, the classified
material shall be marked as follows:
(a) Bound Documents: The assigned defense classification
on bound documents, such as books or pamphlets, the pages of
which are permanently and securely fastened together, shall be
conspicuously marked or stamped on the outside of the front
cover, on the title page, on the first page, on the back page
and on the outside of the back cover. In each case the markings
shall be applied to the top and bottom of the page or cover.
(b) Unbound Documents: The assigned defense classification
on unbound documents, such as letters, memoranda, reports,
telegrams,and other similar documents, the pages of which are
not permanently and securely fastened together, shall be
conspicuously marked or stamped at the top and bottom of each
page, in such manner that the marking will be clearly visible
when the pages are clipped or stapled together.
(c) Charts, Maps, and Drawings: Classified charts,
maps, and drawings shall carry the defense classification
marking under the legend, title block, or scale in such
manner that it will be reproduced on all copies made therefrom.
Such classification shall also be marked at the top and
bottom in each instance.
(d) Photographs, Films and Recordings: Classified
photographs, films, and recordings, and their containers, shall
be conspicuously and appropriately marked with the assigned
defense classification.
(e) Products or Substances: The assigned defense
classification shall be conspicuously marked on classified
products or substances, if possible, and on their containers,
if possible, or, if the article or container cannot be marked,
written notification of such classification shall be furnished
to recipients of such products or substances.
(f) Reproductions: All copies or reproductions of
classified material shall be appropriately marked or stamped
in the same manner as the original thereof.
(g) Unclassified Material: Normally, unclassified
material shall not be marked or stamped Unclassified unless
it is essential to convey to a recipient of such material
that it has been examined specifically with a view to imposing
a defense classification and has been determined not to require
such classification.
(h) Change or Removal of Classification: Whenever
classified material is declassified, downgraded, or upgraded,
the material shall be marked or stamped in a prominent place to
reflect the change in classification, the authority for the
action, the date of action, and the identity of the person
or unit taking the action. In addition, the old classification
marking shall be cancelled and the new classification (if any)
substituted therefor. Automatic change in classification shall
be indicated by the appropriate classifying authority through
marking or stamping in a prominent place to reflect information
specified in subsection 4 (a) hereof.
(i) Material Furnished Persons not in the Executive Branch
of the Government: When classified material affecting the
national defense is furnished authorized persons, in or out of
Federal service, other than those in the executive branch, the
following notation, in addition to the assigned classification
marking, shall whenever practicable be place on the material, on
its container, or on the written notification of its assigned
classification:
"This material contains information affecting the
national defense of the United States within the meaning of
the espionage laws, Title 18, U.S.C., Secs. 793 and 794,
the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an
unauthorized person is prohibited by law."
Use of alternative marking concerning "Restricted Data" as defined by the
Atomic Energy Act is authorized when appropriate.
Section 6. Custody and Safekeeping: The possession or use of
classified defense information or material shall be limited to locations
where facilities for secure storage or protection thereof are available by
means of which unauthorized persons are prevented from gaining access thereto.
Whenever such information or material is not under the personal supervision
of its custodian, whether during or outside of working hours, the following
physical or mechanical means shall be taken to protect it:
(a) Storage of Top Secret Material: Top Secret defense
material shall be protected in storage by the most secure
facilities possible. Normally it will be stored in a safe or a
safe-type steel file container having a three-position, dial-
type, combination lock, and being of such weight, size,
construction, or installation as to minimize the possibility
of surreptitious entry, physical theft, damage by fire, or
tampering. The head of a department or agency may approve other
storage facilities for this material which offer comparable or
better protection, such as an alarmed area, a vault, a secure
vault-type room, or an area under close surveillance of an
armed guard.
(b) Secret and Confidential Material: Those categories of
defense material may be stored in a manner authorized for Top
Secret material, or in metal file cabinets equipped with steel
lockbar and an approved three combination dial-type padlock from
which the manufacturer's identification numbers have been
obliterated, or in comparably secure facilities approved by the
head of the department or agency.
(c) Other classified Material: Heads of departments and
agencies shall prescribe such protective facilities as may be
necessary in their departments or agencies for material
originating under statutory provisions requiring protection of
certain information.
(d) Changes of Lock Combinations: Combinations on locks
of safekeeping equipment shall be changed, only by persons having
appropriate security clearance, whenever such equipment is placed
in use after procurement from the manufacturer or other sources,
whenever a person knowing the combination is transferred from the
office to which the equipment is assigned, or whenever the
combination has been subjected to compromise, and at least once
every year. Knowledge of combinations shall be limited to the
minimum number of persons necessary for operating purposes.
Records of combinations shall be classified no lower than the
highest category of classified defense material authorized for
storage in the safekeeping equipment concerned.
(e) Custodian's Responsibilities: Custodians of
classified defense material shall be responsible for providing
the best possible protection and accountability for such
material at all times and particularly for securely locking
classified material in approved safekeeping equipment
whenever it is not in use or under direct supervision of
authorized employees. Custodians shall follow procedures
which insure that unauthorized persons do not gain access
to classified defense information or material by sight or
sound, and classified information shall not be discussed with
or in the presence of unauthorized persons.
(f) Telephone Conversations: Defense information
classified in the three categories under the provisions of
this order shall not be revealed in telephone conversations,
except as may be authorized under section 8 hereof with respect
to the transmission of Secret and Confidential material over
certain military communications circuits.
(g) Loss or Subjection to Compromise: Any person in
the executive branch who has knowledge of the loss or possible
subjection to compromise of classified defense information shall
promptly report the circumstances to a designated official of
his agency, and the latter shall take appropriate action
forthwith, including advice to the originating department or
agency.
Section 7. Accountability and Dissemination: Knowledge or
possession of classified defense information shall be permitted only to
persons whose official duties require such access in the interest of
promoting national defense and only of they have been determined to be
trustworthy. Proper control of dissemination of classified defense
information shall be maintained at all times, including good accountability
records of classified defense information documents, and severe limitation
on the number of such documents originated as well as the number of copies
thereof reproduced. The number of copies of classified defense information
documents shall be kept to a minimum to decrease the risk of compromise
of the information contained in such documents and the financial burden
on the Government in protecting such documents. The following special
rules shall be observed in connection with accountability for and
dissemination of defense information or material:
(a) Accountability Procedures: Heads of departments and
agencies shall prescribe such accountability procedures as are
necessary to control effectively the dissemination of classified
defense information, with particularly severe control on material
classified Top Secret under this order. Top Secret Control
Officers shall be designated, as required, to receive, maintain
accountability registers of, and dispatch Top Secret material.
(b) Dissemination Outside the Executive Branch: Classified
defense information shall not be disseminated outside the
executive branch except under conditions and through channels
authorized by the head of the disseminating department or agency,
even though the person or agency to which dissemination of such
information is proposed to be made may have been solely or
partly responsible for its production.
(c) Information Originating in Another Department or Agency:
Except as otherwise provided by section 102 of the National
Security Act of July 26, 1947, c. 343, 61 Stat. 498, as amended,
50 U.S.C. sec. 403, classified defense information originating
in another department or agency shall not be disseminated
outside the receiving department or agency without the consent
of the originating department or agency. Documents and material
containing defense information which are classified Top Secret
or Secret shall not be reproduced without the consent of the
originating department or agency.
Section 8. Transmission: For transmission outside of a
department or agency, classified defense material of the three categories
originated under the provisions of this order shall be prepared and
transmitted as follows:
(a) Preparation for Transmission: Such material shall be
enclosed in opaque inner and outer covers. The inner cover shall
be a sealed wrapper or envelope plainly marked with the assigned
classification and address. The outer cover shall be sealed and
addressed with no indication of the classification of its contents.
A receipt form shall be attached to or enclosed in the inner
cover, except that Confidential material shall require a receipt
only if the sender deems it necessary. The receipt form shall
identify the addressor, addressee, and the document, but shall
contain no classified information. It shall be signed by the
proper recipient and returned to the sender.
(b) Transmitting Top Secret Material: The transmission
of Top Secret material shall be effected preferably by direct
contact of officials concerned, or, alternatively, by specifically
designated personnel, by State Department diplomatic pouch,
by a messenger-courier system especially created for that
purpose, or by electric means in encrypted form; or in the case
of information transmitted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
such means of transmission may be used as are currently approved
by the director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, unless express
reservation to the contrary is made in exceptional cases by the
originating agency.
(c) Transmitting Secret Material: Secret material shall
be transmitted within the continental United States by one of
the means established for Top Secret material, by an authorized
courier, by United States registered mail, or by protected
commercial express, air or surface. Secret material may be
transmitted outside the continental limits of the United States
by one of the means established for Top Secret material, by
commanders or masters of vessels of United States registry,
or by United States Post Office registered mail through Army,
Navy, or Air Force postal facilities, provided that the material
does not at any time pass out of United States Government control
and does not pass through a foreign postal system. Secret
material may, however, be transmitted between United States
Government and/or Canadian Government installations in
continental United States, Canada, and Alaska by United States
and Canadian registered mail with registered mail receipt.
In an emergency, Secret material may also be transmitted over
military communications circuits in accordance with regulations
promulgated for such purpose by the Secretary of Defense.
(d) Transmitting Confidential Material: Confidential
defense material shall be transmitted within the United States
by one of the means established for higher classifications, by
registered mail, or by express or freight under such specific
conditions as may be prescribed by the head of the department
or agency concerned. Outside the continental United States,
Confidential defense material shall be transmitted in the
same manner as authorized for higher classifications.
(e) Within an Agency: Preparation of classified defense
material for transmission, and transmission of it, within a
department or agency shall be governed by regulations, issued
by the head of the department or agency, insuring a degree of
security equivalent to that outlined above for transmission
outside a department or agency.
Section 9. Disposal and Destruction: Documentary record material
made or received by a department or agency in connection with transaction
of public business and preserved as evidence of the organization, functions,
policies, operations, decisions, procedures or other activities of any
department or agency of the Government, or because of the informational
value of the data contained therein, may be destroyed only in accordance
with the act of July 7, 1943, c. 192, 57 Stat. 380, as amended, 44 U.S.C.
366-380. Non-record classified material, consisting of extra copies and
duplicates including shorthand notes, preliminary drafts, used carbon
paper, and other material of similar temporary nature, may be destroyed,
under procedures established by the head of the department or agency which
meet the following requirements, as soon as it has served its purpose:
(a) Methods of Destruction: Classified defense material
shall be destroyed by burning in the presence of an appropriate
official or by other methods authorized by the head of an
agency provided the resulting destruction is equally complete.
(b) Records of Destruction: Appropriate accountability
records maintained in the department or agency shall reflect
the destruction of classified defense material.
Section 10. Orientation and Inspection: To promote the basic
purposes of this order, heads of those departments and agencies originating
or handling classified defense information shall designate experienced
persons to coordinate and supervise the activities applicable to their
departments or agencies under this order. Persons so designated shall
maintain active training and orientation programs for employees concerned
with classified defense information to impress each such employee with
his individual responsibility for exercising vigilance and care in
complying with the provisions of this order. Such persons shall be
authorized on behalf of the heads of the departments and agencies to
establish adequate and active inspection programs to the end that the
provisions of this order are administered effectively.
Section 11. Interpretation of Regulations by the Attorney
General: The Attorney General, upon request of the head of a department
or agency or his duly designated representative, shall personally or
through authorized representatives of the Department of Justice render
an interpretation of these regulations in connection with any problems
arising out of their administration.
Section 12. Statutory Requirements: Nothing in this order
shall be construed to authorize the dissemination, handling or transmission
of classified information contrary to the provisions of any statute.
Section 13. "Restricted Data" as Defined in the Atomic Energy
Act: Nothing in this order shall supersede any requirements made by or
under the Atomic Energy Act of August 1, 1946, as amended. "Restricted
Data" as defined by the said act shall be handled, protected, classified,
downgraded, and declassified in conformity with the provisions of the
Atomic Energy Act of 1946, as amended, and the regulations of the Atomic
Energy Commission.
Section 14. Combat Operations: The provisions of this order
with regard to dissemination, transmission, or safekeeping of classified
defense information or material may be so modified in connection with
combat or combat-related operations as the Secretary of Defense may by
regulations prescribe.
Section 15. Exceptional Cases: When, in an exceptional case,
a person or agency not authorized to classify defense information originates
information which is believed to require classification, such person or
agency shall protect that information in the manner prescribed by this
order for that category of classified defense information into which it is
believed to fall, and shall transmit the information forthwith, under
appropriate safeguards, to the department, agency, or person having both
the authority to classify information and a direct official interest in
the information (preferably, that department, agency, or person to which
the information would be transmitted in the ordinary course of business),
with a request that such department, agency, or person classify the
information.
Section 16. Review to Insure That Information is Not Improperly
Withheld Hereunder: The President shall designate a member of his staff
who shall receive, consider, and take action upon, suggestions or
complaints from non-Governmental sources relating to the operation of
this
order.
Section 17. Review to Insure Safeguarding of Classified Defense
Information: The National Security Council shall conduct a continuing
review of the implementation of this order to insure that classified
defense information is properly safeguarded, in conformity herewith.
Section 18. Review Within Departments and Agencies: The head
of each department and agency shall designate a member or members of his
staff who shall conduct a continuing review of the implementation of this
order within the department or agency concerned to insure that no
information is withheld hereunder which the people of the United States
have a right to know, and to insure that classified defense information
is properly safeguarded in conformity herewith.
Section 19. Revocation of Executive Order No. 10290: Executive
Order No. 10290 of September 24, 1951 is revoked as of the effective date
of this order.
Section 20. Effective Date: This order shall become effective
on December 15, 1953.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
THE WHITE HOUSE
November 5, 1953
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Memorandum for the Heads of All Departments
and Agencies of the Government
The following departments and agencies of the executive
branch and their constituent agencies shall be subject to the
limitations specified in section 2 of the Executive order entitled
"Safeguarding Official Information in the Interests of the Defense
of the United States":
A. Original Classification Authority Eliminated:
1. American Battle Monuments commission
2. Arlington Memorial Amphitheater Commission
3. Commission of Fine Arts
4. Committee on Purchases of Blind-Made Products
5. Committee for reciprocity Information
6. Commodity Exchange Commission
7. Export-Import Bank of Washington
8. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
9. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
10. Federal Reserve System
11. Federal Trade Commission
12. Housing and Home Finance Agency
13. Indian Claims Commission
14. Interstate Commerce Commission
15. Missouri Basin Survey Commission
16. National Capital Housing Authority
17. National Capital Park and Planning Commission
18. National Forest Reservation Commission
19 National Labor Relations Board
20. National Mediation Board
21. Railroad Retirement Board
22. Securities and Exchange Commission
23. Selective Service System
24. Smithsonian Institution
25. United States Tariff Commission
26. Veterans Administration
27. Veterans Education Appeals Board
28 War Claims Commission
B. Original Classification Authority Limited to
Head of Agency:
1. Civil Aeronautics Board
2. Defense Transport Administration
3. Department of Agriculture
4. Department of Health, Education and Welfare
5. Department of the Interior
6. Department of Labor
7. Federal Communications Commission
8. Federal Power Commission
9. National Science Foundation
10. National Security Training Commission
11. Panama Canal Company
12. Post office Department
13. Reconstruction Finance Corporation
14. Renegotiation Board
15. Small Business Administration
16. Subversive Activities Control Board
17. Tennessee Valley Authority
C. Heads of departments and agencies not named herein
shall limit the exercise of classified authority
in accordance with section 2(c) of the order.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
THE WHITE HOUSE
November 5, 1953
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