SAFEGUARDING OFFICIAL INFORMATION IN THE INTERESTS OF THE DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP67-00896R000100180087-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 87
• Content Type: REGULATIONS/INSTRUCTIONS/NOTICES/FIELD NOTICES

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EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 10501
NOVEMBER 5, 1953
SAFEGUARDING OFFICIAL INFORMATION IN THE INTERESTS
OF THE DEFENSE OF THE UNITED STATES
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EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 10501
NOVEMBER 5, 1953
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 con-
cerning 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 destruc-
tive 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 nec-
essary in the best interests of the national security, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. CLASSIFICATION CATEGORIES
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Official information which requires protection in the interests of national de-
fense 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 in-
formation, 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 class-ii-cation 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 informa-
tion 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 de-
fense information or material the unauthorized disclosure of which could result
in serious damage to the Nation, such as by jeopardizing the international rela-
tions 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.
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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 in-
formation or material under this order.
(b) In those departments and agencies having partial but not primary re-
sponsibility 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 affected by the provisions of
subsection (a) and (b), above, the authority for original classification of infor-
mation 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 trans-
action of Government business.
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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 docu-
ments. 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 separatedfromthe file or group
shall be handled in accordance with their individual defense classification.
(c) Multi le Classification: A document, product, or substance shall bear
a classification at east as highas 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) nfInformation Ori mated b a Forei n Government or Or anization: De-
e i ormation of
fens a classi ie nature furnished to the nited tates by a
foreign government or international organization shall be assigned a classifica-
tion which will assure a degree of protection equivalent to or greater than that
required by the government or international organization which furnished the
information.
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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 pro-
cedures shall be established to provide specific means for prompt review of clas-
sified material and its declassification or downgrading in order to preserve the
effectiveness and integrity of the classification systemandto 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 classifica-
tion 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.
or that they are not classified n at o the document from which extracted,
.
(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 retention 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 clas-
sified 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 tha th f
(c) Material Officially Transferred: I th
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e case of material transferred
by or pursuant to statute or Executive order from one department or agency to
another for the latter's use and as part of its official files or property, as dis-
tinguished from transfers merely for purposes of storage, the receiving depart-
ment 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
--sraue such
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rial. probable that another department or agency may have a substantial f 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 partic-
ular 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, ex-
tracted from, paraphrased, downgraded, declassified, or disseminated, except
in accordance with special regulations issued -,,, ., - L__
over systems snall be handled in accordance with the regulations of the transmittting
department or agency.
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(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 classi ied, or if the recipient of classified material believes that its
classification is not sufficiently protective, it shall be safeguarded in accord-
ance 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 bounddocu-
ments, 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, andother similar
documents, the pages of which are not permanently and securely fastened to-
gether, 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) Rproductions: All copies of 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.
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? (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 author-
ity 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 clas-
sification 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 Gov-
ernment: When classified material affecting the national defense is furnished
authorized persons, in or out of Federal service, other than those in the ex-
ecutive branch, the following notation, in addition to the assigned classification
marking, shall whenever practicable be placed 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 super-
vision 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 headof a department or agency may approve
other storage facilities for this material which offer comparable or better pro-
tection, 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: These 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 de-
partment 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 pro-
tection 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 combina-
tion is transferred from the office to which the equipment is assigned, or
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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, in-
cluding 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 if 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 docu-
ments, 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 compro-
mise of the information contained in such documents and the financial burden on the
Government in protecting such documents. The following special rules shall be ob-
served 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 infor-
mation shall not be disseminated outside the executive branch except under con-
ditions 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 Ori inatin in Another Department or Agency: Except as
otherwise provided by section 102 of the NationalSecurity Act of July 26, 1947,
c. 343, 61 Stat. 498, as amended, 50 U.S.C. sec. 403, classified defense informa-
tion originating in another department or agency shall not be disseminated
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(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 diplo-
matic pouch, by a messenger-courier system especially created for that pur-
pose, 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 In-
vestigation, 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 maybe 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 trans-
mission, 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 depart-
ment or agency.
outside the receiving department or agencywithout 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 pre-
pared and transmitted as follows:
 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 or-
ganization, 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 tem-
porary 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 author-
ized 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 ex-
perienced persons to coordinate and supervise the activities applicable to their de-
partments 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 personnally or through authorized repre-
sentatives 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
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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 classifica-
tion, 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 de-
partment, 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 imple-
mentation 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.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
November 5, 1953.