Federal agencies routinely generate, use, store, and share information that, while not meeting the standards for classified national security information, requires safeguarding and dissemination controls. CUI is not a new classification level below Confidential.
CUI is unclassified information that meets the standards for safeguarding and dissemination controls pursuant to law, regulations, and government-wide policies under E.O. 13556. Previously, similar information may have been referred to as Sensitive But Unclassified ("SBU") throughout the executive branch and some of this information may meet the requirements to become CUI.
Select each of the icons below to learn more about CUI.
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Icon with a green check mark that reads: "CUI is..."
Icon with a red X mark that reads: "CUI is not..."
An interaction consisting of 2 selectable icons—a green check mark and a red X mark. When each icon is selected the corresponding text is displayed.
When the green check mark icon is selected, the following text is displayed:
CUI is an effort to:
Apply a uniform program for designation (of information that meets the standards for CUI), management, and dissemination of sensitive information,
Standardize markings across the federal government,
Improve information sharing with adequate safeguards,
Ensure that information is only controlled when there is a need to do so.
When the red X icon is selected, the following text is displayed:
CUI is not an attempt to:
Circumvent the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other legal rights of Americans to obtain official government information,
Impede the timeliness, accuracy, or dissemination of information,
Conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error,
Prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency,
Delay or prevent the public release of information that does not require safeguarding or dissemination controls.
