NARA Unveils New Safeguards for Document Classification
-- Library Journal, 5/12/2006
It looks government intelligence and security agencies have been a little too eager to remove declassified documents from public access areas. Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein has announced results of an audit, which found that at least 25,315 publicly available records were removed and only 64 percent of sampled records "met the standards for continued classification." The National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Information Oversight Office (ISOO) audit also determined that NARA entered into ad hoc agreements with the CIA and U.S. Air Force after the 9/11 attacks to secretly remove unclassified items. Both NARA and the government agencies involved demonstrated insufficient "quality control and oversight" and NARA "acquiesced too readily to the withdrawal of records.”
Government agencies have agreed to a temporary stop to the removal of documents and will become involved in a pilot effort to develop a more reliable declassification program. Weinstein will appoint a team to undertake a longer-term analysis of how NARA processes classified documents. ISOO will develop additional training for agency personnel and users of classified information. In a letter to Weinstein, Society of American Archivists president Richard Pearce-Moses commended Weinstein in his efforts to "balance the public's need to know against national security interests."
