The Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary of Transportation, and the Secretary of Energy shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section. The regulations may provide for controls on access to and use of, and special markings and specific safeguards for, a category or categories of information subject to this section. Authority to protect and withhold from public disclosure certain sensitive information of foreign governments and international organizations. Section 903 would fill a void currently in the law to protect two categories of sensitive unclassified information from loss or unauthorized disclosure to the public. Many allied and other friendly nations have a category of unclassified information that is subject to special controls and protected by law from release outside the government.
Some international organizations have similar policies to control and protect sensitive information.
Often this type of information is provided to a U.S. department or agency only on the condition that it will be handled in confidence and access will be limited as it is by the providing nation or organization. Unless the information is classified under Executive Order 12958, there is, however, no legislative authority for withholding it from public release. The Restricted level, lower than Confidential, is used by the foreign governments in a manner similar to the controls for unclassified information described in the preceding paragraph. If there were an alternative means to protect it while in the custody of the United States Government, it would not, therefore, require classification. As a consequence, the information is handled as required by the Executive Order and implementing regulations of the information security program.