What term describes a determination by a declassification authority to safeguard information at a lower level after declassification?

• A. Downgrade
• B. Declassify
• C. Reclassify
• D. Classification

Answer: (A)

Downgrade is the act of lowering the protection level of information after it has been assessed for declassification. When a declassification authority decides that the material can be safeguarded at a less restrictive level, the classification level is reduced (for example, from Secret to Confidential or Confidential to Unclassified) while still applying appropriate access controls. This keeps some protection in place even though the information is no longer at the higher, more sensitive level. Declassify would remove classification entirely, reclassify would raise the level again, and classification refers to the initial assignment of a level.