What is ‘classified’ information? What are ‘secure’ communications? Here’s a primer

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — The Trump administration’s use of a popular messaging app to discuss sensitive military plans — with a journalist on the text chain — is raising questions about security and the importance of safeguarding the nation’s secrets.

It’s also highlighting the differences between classified and public information, and demonstrating that even encrypted apps like Signal can lead to embarrassing leaks if the humans doing the texting don’t follow basic security tips.

President Donald Trump’s administration says no classified material was leaked when senior officials used Signal to discuss upcoming attack plans against the Houthi rebels in Yemen — even though a journalist was on the chat.

But even if the information had been declassified by the Pentagon, it contained details that would have been highly valuable to the Houthis or other adversaries, showing how sometimes the decision of what to classify is a judgment call.

The federal government routinely classifies vast amounts of information pertaining to military and intelligence operations. The material ranges from top secret nuclear programs or the identities of undercover agents all the way to mundane records that would be of little interest to anyone, let alone America’s adversaries. In 2011, for example, the CIA finally declassified its recipe for invisible ink — from 1917.

Advocates for open government have long complained that the push for secrecy goes too far, by protecting information that could shine a light on government activities or matters of public interest, including about UFO sightings and a 60-year-old presidential assassination.

While the public typically calls any information withheld by the government “classified,” that term only refers to the three broad categories used to “classify” information based on the need for secrecy: confidential, secret and top secret.

While files marked “confidential” contain information that’s not meant to be released, the need for security or access restrictions isn’t as great as for material considered “top secret,” which includes the nation’s nuclear secrets and other material that, if released, could pose a grave danger to national security.