Information sensitivity
With regard to government and private organizations, access to or release of such information may be requested by any member of the public, and there are often formal processes laid out for how to do so.
[3] The accessibility of government-held public records is an important part of government transparency, accountability to its citizens, and the values of democracy.
Furthermore, a person's SSN or SIN, credit card numbers, and other financial information may be considered private if their disclosure might lead to crimes such as identity theft or fraud.
Some types of private information, including records of a person's health care, education, and employment may be protected by privacy laws.
[5] Unauthorized disclosure of private information can make the perpetrator liable for civil remedies and may in some cases be subject to criminal penalties.
[7] Under TSCA, CBI is defined as proprietary information, considered confidential to the submitter, the release of which would cause substantial business injury to the owner.
Indicating that the document must be physically read by the recipient and cannot be openly discussed for example over a telephone conversation or that the communication can be sent only using encrypted means.
Some of the domains have a guideline in form of pre-defined models such as "Safe Harbor" of HIPAA,[15] based on the research of Latanya Sweeny and established privacy industry metrics.
[16] The confidentiality of sensitive business information is established through non-disclosure agreements, a legally binding contract between two parties in a professional relationship.
[21] In many countries, unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a criminal offence, and may be punishable by fines, prison sentence, or even the death penalty, depending on the severity of the violation.
[22][23] For less severe violations, civil sanctions may be imposed, ranging from reprimand to revoking of security clearance and subsequent termination of employment.
A number of security concerns have arisen in the recent years as increasing amounts of sensitive information at every level have found their primary existence in digital form.
The existence of large databases of classified information on computer networks is also changing the face of domestic and international politics.
The popular, controversial WikiLeaks is just one of many manifestations of a growing cultural sentiment that is becoming an additional challenge to the security and integrity of classified information.
