There are four classification levels you can apply to files and records:
- Top Secret
- Secret
- Confidential
- Unclassified (typically used to differentiate a file or record that used to be classified, or will become so in future)
There are three clearance levels that can be assigned to users:
- Top Secret - Can see files and records with any classification level
- Secret - Can see secret, confidential and unclassified files and records
- Confidential - Can see confidential and unclassified files and records
You can’t classify a file higher than your own security level. So if your security clearance is Confidential, you can’t classify a file as Top Secret.
Security clearance levels are enforced for files and records that have been classified. For example, if a record has been classified as Top Secret, then:
- User 1 (Top Secret clearance) - can see and work with the record
- User 2 (Confidential clearance) - doesn’t see the record in the File Plan
User 1 would see the following, whereas User 2 would only see the Unclassified file that has no classification label:
When you set security classification for a file or record you must record a reason for the classification. Downgrade and declassification schedule option give additional control over the classification lifecycle.