Information Sharing: The Federal Government Needs to Establish Policies and Processes for Sharing Terrorism-Related and Sensitive but Unclassified Information
Abstract
A number of initiatives to improve information sharing have been called for, including the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The 2002 act required the development of policies for sharing classified and sensitive but unclassified homeland security information. The 2004 act called for the development of an Information Sharing Environment for terrorism information. This report examines (1) the status of efforts to establish governmentwide information sharing policies and processes and (2) the universe of sensitive but unclassified designations used by the 26 agencies that GAO surveyed and their related policies and procedures. To provide for information-sharing policies and procedures, GAO recommends that the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) assess progress, address barriers, and propose changes, and that OMB work with agencies on policies, procedures, and controls to help achieve more accountability. OMB said that once ODNI completed its work, OMB would work with ODNI and all agencies on additional steps, if needed. ODNI declined to comment on our report, indicating that the subject matter is outside GAOs purview. We disagree with this assessment because it does not accurately reflect the scope of GAOs statutory authorities.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- AD1179053
Entities
People
- David A. Powner
- David Plocher
- Eileen Larence
- Joanne Fiorino
- John Stradling
- Lori Martinez
- Marcia Washington
- Morgan Walts
- Rochelle Burns
- Susan Quinlan
- Thomas Lombardi
- Vickie Miller
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office