What is Classified Information?

Classified information is material that a government body claims is sensitive information that requires protection of confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people, and mishandling can incur criminal penalties and loss of respect. A formal security clearance is often required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process usually requires a satisfactory background investigation. Documents and other information assets are typically marked with one of several (hierarchical) levels of sensitivity - e.g. restricted, confidential, secret and top secret. The choice of level is often based on an impact assessment; governments often have their own set of rules which include the levels, rules on determining the level for an information asset, and rules on how to protect information classified at each level. This often includes security clearances for personnel handling the information. Although "Classified information" refers to the formal categorization and marking of material by level of sensitivity, it has also developed a sense synonymous with "censored" in US English. A distinction is often made between formal security classification and privacy markings such as "commercial in confidence". Classifications can be used with additional keywords that give more detailed instructions on how data should be used or protected.

Some corporations and non-government organizations also assign sensitive information to multiple levels of protection, either from a desire to protect trade secrets, or because of laws and regulations governing various matters such as personal privacy, sealed legal proceedings and the timing of financial information releases.

Table of equivalent classification markings in various countries:

(State)	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	Restricted
Albania	Teper Sekret	Sekret	Konfidencial	I Kufizuar
Argentina	Estrictamente Secreto y Confidencial	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Australia	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	Protected
Austria	Streng Geheim	Geheim	Vertraulich	Eingeschränkt
Belgium	Zeer Geheim / Très Secret	Geheim / Secret	Vertrouwelijk / Confidentiel	Beperkte Verspreiding / Diffusion restreinte
Bolivia	Supersecreto or Muy Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Strogo povjerljivo	Tajno	Konfidencialno	Restriktivno
Brazil	Ultrassecreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Bulgaria	Строго секретно	Секретно	Поверително	За служебно ползване
Cambodia	Sam Ngat Bamphot	Sam Ngat Roeung	Art Kambang	Ham Kom Psay
Canada	Top Secret/Très secret	Secret/Secret	Confidential/Confidentiel	Protected A, B or C / Protégé A, B ou C
Chile	Secreto	Secreto	Reservado	Reservado
China, People's Republic of	Juémì (绝密)	Jīmì (机密)	Mìmì (秘密)	Nèibù (内部)
Colombia	Ultrasecreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reserva del sumario
Costa Rica	Alto Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial
Croatia	Vrlo tajno	Tajno	Povjerljivo	Ograničeno
Czech Republic	Přísně tajné	Tajné	Důvěrné	Vyhrazené
Denmark	Yderst Hemmeligt	Hemmeligt	Fortroligt	Til Tjenestebrug Foreign Service: Fortroligt (thin Black border)
Ecuador	Secretisimo	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Egypt	Sirriy lil-Ġāyah سري للغاية	Sirriy Ǧiddan سري جداً	Khāṣ خاص	Maḥzūr محظور
El Salvador	Ultra Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Estonia	Täiesti salajane	Salajane	Konfidentsiaalne	Piiratud
Ethiopia	Yemiaz Birtou Mistir	Mistir	Kilkil
European Union(EU)	TRES SECRET UE / EU TOP SECRET	SECRET UE / EU SECRET	CONFIDENTIEL UE / EU CONFIDENTIAL	RESTREINT UE / EU RESTRICTED
European Union (Western) (WEU)	FOCAL TOP SECRET	WEU SECRET	WEU CONFIDENTIAL	WEU RESTRICTED
Euratom	EURA TOP SECRET	EURA SECRET	EURA CONFIDENTIAL	EURA RESTRICTED
Finland	Erittäin salainen (ST I)	Salainen (ST II)	Luottamuksellinen (ST III)	Käyttö rajoitettu (ST IV)
France	Très secret défense	Secret défense	Confidentiel défense	Diffusion restreinte
Germany	Streng Geheim	Geheim	VS-Vertraulich	VS-Nur für den Dienstgebrauch
Greece	Άκρως Απόρρητον	Απόρρητον	Εμπιστευτικόν	Περιορισμένης Χρήσης
Guatemala	Alto Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Haiti	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	Reserve
Honduras	Super Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Hong Kong	Top Secret, 高度機密	Secret, 機密	Confidential, 保密	Restricted, 內部文件/限閱文件
Hungary	Szigorúan Titkos	Titkos	Bizalmas	Korlátozott Terjesztésű
India (Hindi)	परम गुप्त (Param Gupt)	गुप्त (Gupt)	गोपनीय (Gopniya)	प्रतिबंधित/सीमित (Pratibandhit/seemit)
India (English)	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	Restricted
Indonesia	Sangat Rahasia	Rahasia	Rahasia Dinas	Terbatas
Iran	Tabagheh-bandi-shodeh طبقه بندی شده	Mahramaneh محرمانه	Sar-be-moher سـَر به مـُهر	Sarbaste سَربسته
Iraq	Sirriy lil-Ġāyah سري للغاية	Sirriy سري	Khāṣ خاص	Maḥdūd محدود
Iceland	Algert Leyndarmál	Leyndarmál	Trúnaðarmál	Þjónustuskjal
Ireland (Irish language)	An-sicreideach	Sicreideach	Runda	Srianta
Israel	Sodi Beyoter סודי ביותר	Sodi סודי	Shamur שמור	Mugbal מוגבל
Italy	Segretissimo	Segreto	Riservatissimo	Riservato
Japan	Kimitsu, 機密	Gokuhi, 極秘	Hi, 秘	Toriatsukaichuui, 取り扱い注意
Jordan	Maktūm Ǧiddan مكتوم جداً	Maktūm مكتوم	Sirriy سري	Maḥdūd محدود
Korea, South	I(Il)-geup Bimil, 1급비밀	II(I)-geup Bimil, 2급비밀	III(Sam)-geup Bimil, 3급비밀	Daeoebi, 대외비
Laos	Lup Sood Gnod	Kuam Lup	Kuam Lap	Chum Kut Kon Arn
Latvia	Sevišķi slepeni	Slepeni	Konfidenciāli	Dienesta vajadzībām
Lebanon	Tres Secret	Secret	Confidentiel
Lithuania	Visiškai Slaptai	Slaptai	Konfidencialiai	Riboto Naudojimo
Malaysia	Rahsia Besar	Rahsia	Sulit	Terhad
Mexico	Ultra Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Restringido
Montenegro	Strogo Tajno	Tajno	Povjerljivo	Interno
Netherlands	STG. Zeer Geheim	STG. Geheim	STG. Confidentieel	Departementaal Vertrouwelijk
New Zealand	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	Restricted
Nicaragua	Alto Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Norway	STRENGT HEMMELIG	HEMMELIG	KONFIDENSIELT	BEGRENSET
Pakistan (Urdu)	Intahai Khufia	Khufia	Sigh-e-Raz	Barai Mahdud Taqsim
Pakistan(English)	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	Restricted
Paraguay	Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Peru	Estrictamente Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Philippines(English) Philippines(Tagalog)	Top Secret Matinding Lihim	Secret Mahigpit na Lihim	Confidential Lihim	Restricted Ipinagbabawal
Poland	Ściśle tajne	Tajne	Poufne	Zastrzeżone
Portugal	Muito Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Romania	Strict Secret	Secret	Confidential	Limitat
Russia	Особой важности (вариант: Совершенно Секретно (Sovershenno Sekretno))	Совершенно секретно (вариант: Секретно (Sekretno))	Секретно (вариант: Не подлежит оглашению (Конфиденциально) (Ne podlezhit oglasheniyu (Konfidentsial'no))	Для Служебного Пользования (ДСП) (Dlya Sluzhebnogo Pol'zovaniya)
Saudi Arabia	Saudi Top Secret	Saudi Very Secret	Saudi Secret	Saudi Restricted
Serbia	Latin: Državna tajna Cyrillic: Државна тајна	Latin: Strogo poverljivo Cyrillic: Строго поверљиво	Latin: Poverljivo Cyrillic: Поверљивo	Latin: Interno Cyrillic: Интерно
Singapore	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	Restricted
Slovak Republic	Prísne tajné	Tajné	Dôverné	Vyhradené
Slovenia	Strogo tajno	Tajno	Zaupno	Interno
Spain	Secreto	Reservado	Confidencial	Difusión Limitada
Sweden	Kvalificerat Hemlig (KH); Hemlig/Top Secret (H/TS)	Hemlig (H); Hemlig/Secret H/S)	Hemlig/Confidential (H/C)	Hemlig/Restricted (H/R)
Switzerland		GEHEIM / SECRET	VERTRAULICH / CONFIDENTIEL	INTERN / INTERNE
Taiwan (Republic of China)	Top Secret (絕對機密)	Secret (極機密)	Confidential (機密)	no direct equivalent
Tanzania(Swahili)	SIRI KUU	SIRI	STIRI	IMEZUILIWA
Thailand	Lap thi sut (ลับที่สุด)	Lap mak (ลับมาก)	Lap (ลับ)	Pok pit (ปกปิด)
Turkey	Çok Gizli	Gizli	Özel	Hizmete Özel
South Africa(English)	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	Restricted
South Africa (Afrikaans)	Uiters Geheim	Geheim	Vertroulik	Beperk
Ukraine	Особливої важливості	Цілком таємно	Таємно	Для службового користування
United Kingdom	TOP SECRET	SECRET	OFFICIAL (formerly CONFIDENTIAL)	OFFICIAL (formerly RESTRICTED)
United States	Top Secret	Secret	Confidential	For Official Use Only
Uruguay	Ultra Secreto	Secreto	Confidencial	Reservado
Vietnam	Tuyệt Mật	Tối Mật	Mật	Phổ Biến Hạn Chế

(collected)