page_title: Government Security Classifications Policy
section_title: Current classifications
hierarchical_section_title: Government Security Classifications Policy / Current classifications
caption_attribution_description: English: Transition from the old Government Protective Marking Scheme to the new Government Security Classifications Policy in 2014. The criteria for classifications are being adjusted too, so there is not always a perfect map from layer to layer.
context_page_description: The Government Security Classifications Policy is a system for classifying sensitive government data in the United Kingdom.
context_section_description: The GSCP uses three levels of classification: OFFICIAL, SECRET and TOP SECRET. This is simpler than the old model and there is no direct relationship between the old and new classifications. "Unclassified" is deliberately omitted from the new model. Government bodies are not expected to automatically remark existing data, so there may be cases where organisations working under the new system still handle some data marked according to the old system.
  Information Asset Owners continue to be responsible for information. The new policy does not specify particular IT security requirements - IT systems should be built and used in accordance with existing guidance from CESG.
  Everybody who works with government - including contractors and suppliers - is responsible for protecting information they work with, regardless of whether it has a protective marking.
  Aggregation does not automatically trigger an increase in protective marking. For instance, a database with thousands of records which are individually OFFICIAL should not be relabeled as a SECRET database. Instead, information owners are expected to make decisions about controls based on a risk assessment, and should consider what the aggregated information is, who needs to access it, and how.
caption: The criteria for classifications are being adjusted too, so there is not always a perfect map from layer to layer.
exif: {}