Before we discuss fixing the classified document tracking system, we need to consider . . . .

[Genki Hikari]

15. Oh--and who creates classified data

Can be anyone working with something classified. From CIA analysts creating reports about undercover field operations to whoever writes the many millions of technical manuals for classified processes and equipment maintenance.

Someone upthread said that all paperwork generated in some agencies automatically gets classified. It wouldn't surprise me (:::cough::: CIA :::cough::: ), but that's not as common as one would think. If everything in, say, the military was classified, then everything would grind to a halt because complying with the classified processes for everything would be a major PITA.

So some of the letters I typed up for my idiot superior in the military who could barely master hunt-and-peck--that didn't need to be classified. Some of it might have private info about a particular person in the shop, but it wasn't a national security issue. So it wasn't classified. That would be stupid.

But there was stuff that I typed up for the idiot and sent out that had to be classified, because that stuff related to classified matters. There was a process we had to follow for complying with generating it and then insuring that it went through secure channels to its destination.

The idiot and I were flunkies, but every now and then, we were technically "creators" of classified data, out of necessity.