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17 February 1995
SUBJECT: Clearance Procedures for Making Electronic Information Available to the Public
Recent achievements in electronic transmission of information have provided the Department of Defense with quick and easy mechanisms to communicate with the general public, and vice-versa. The proliferation of electronic bulletin boards, combined with the growth of the INTERNET, allows organizations throughout the Department of Defense to place information on computer servers which can be easily and legally accessed by the public. This capability provides the public with an electronic avenue to the Department of Defense. The volume of information which could potentially be made available over this world-wide network is enormous.
While this ability does a great deal to promote the President's theme of "openness in government," great care must be taken to ensure that only properly reviewed and cleared information is placed on electronic systems accessible by the general public, inclusive of replies via electronic mail.
The purpose of this memorandum is to ensure that addressees establish procedures for clearing electronic copies of information, which are in consonance with procedures already in place for clearing "hard" copy information. Provisions of DOD Directive 5230.9, "Clearance of DOD Information for Public Release," April 2, 1982, must be satisfied prior to making any information available to the public, whether it be for placement on a publicly accessible computer server, or, in response to electronic mail queries from the general public.
