FAS

ODNI Classification Guide Released

03.23.16 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

The “existence of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI)” is Unclassified. So is “the fact that ODNI Headquarters is located within the Liberty Crossing Compound in the Tyson’s Corner Area of Virginia.”

However, “the names and abbreviations of ODNI locations in the Washington Metropolitan Area, both overt and covert” are classified Secret.

These determinations and many others of interest are compiled in a newly released ODNI Classification Guide, Version 2.1, September 30, 2014. The declassified Classification Guide was released by ODNI with limited redactions in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Stephen Revilak.

“The Guide implements ODNI classification policy and procedures for the use and dissemination of ODNI national security information,” the document states.

It covers a wide range of intelligence policy, technology and operational areas involving ODNI that are potentially subject to classification. (Unfortunately, portions of the document released by ODNI are poorly scanned and several pages are cut off at the bottom. Hopefully, a corrected version will soon follow.) [Now fixed.]

“The absence of an item in the Guide does not imply that it is Unclassified,” the reader is cautioned.

Moreover, “The fact that some ODNI information is marked unclassified does not authorize public release,” the Guide states.