mfidelma@cc5.bbn.com (Miles R. Fidelman) (03/10/87)
It's worth noting that there are effectively two categories of information here: First, the funny notion of "quasi-classified" data, that seems to be causing all of the problems; and second, non-classified information that the government must protect for either legal or policy reasons. In this second category are such things as tax records and other personal data, proprietary data and such things as economic reports and Federal Reserve announcements that should be announced to all parties at the same point in time. Quasi-classification seems like a somewhat spurious exercise: It should either be classified or not, and the legal authority of the Government to impose restrictions on private individuals and corporations appears questionable. In the second category , however, it seems like a good idea that the government be required to exercise care in its own handling of sensitive data (e.g. by applying COMSEC and COMPUSEC measures).