From now on, secret paperwork is the prerogative of not only state bodies. Documents with a security stamp today are in almost every large commercial organization. This article will tell you all about competent secret documentation.
The concept of secrecy in office work
Any labor activity, one way or another connected with secret or secret documentation, always contains a lot of difficulties, problems and risks. What is the reason for this? There are many reasons, among which the main one is the banal inability to work competently with papers bearing the secrecy stamp.
To begin with, it would be worth deciding on what is generally a secret. Secret has several meanings. If you take into account the most common definition, then this concept should be interpreted as some information available only to a limited circle of persons. The secret is not subject to disclosure, it must be kept secret. As a rule, the secret is soon lost, and information becomes available to a large number of people. Accordingly, the organization of secret paperwork becomes unnecessary.
Vultures of secrecy
At the moment, secrecy has several main types. If we are talking about secret records management, one way or another connected with state affairs, then all documents are divided into three main types:
- special importance;
- top secret;
- official use.
This classification is fixed by a special Federal Law of July 21, 1993 "On State Secrets." What is each of the above vultures?
The bar of "special importance" represents the highest degree of secrecy. Naturally, not every document can receive such a status. So, in the case of disclosure of the neck of particular importance, significant damage to the state or a certain group of people can be done. That is why the protection of such documents is appropriate.
The “top secret” stamp is also assigned to documents containing some kind of state secret. Strict regulation when working with this kind of paper is in this case a hallmark.
The signature stamp “official use” does not provide documents with special secrecy, but significantly limits their use. This kind of secret record keeping is established, as a rule, in commercial structures.
Classification order
The order of classification is also established by the Federal Law on the state. the secret named above. According to this document, a secret subject to the state may include:
- information on the military sphere;
- information about the economy, technology or science;
- information on foreign policy or economic spheres;
- information about counterintelligence, operational or search activity, anti-terrorism policy, etc.
How are documents classified? The main thing worth noting is the presence of specially authorized experts. Persons with certain qualifications are engaged in the development of safe storage of certain papers. The most appropriate secrecy stamp is selected, in accordance with which further work takes place. In fact, secret record keeping is a huge field with its employees and managers.
Systematic principle for determining secrecy
For the most competent determination of the degree of secrecy, it is necessary to periodically apply special principles. Further, we will talk about the very form of determining secrecy in paperwork - the principle of consistency. What is he like?
The main feature of the systematic approach is a special attention to the problem of classification as a whole. Its main function is to preserve two mutually influencing trends: on the one hand, to prevent the dissemination of important information; on the other, to avoid mass classification and the ensuing problems.
How is secret office work? Here, the main are two mechanisms: overstatement and understatement of the secrecy stamp. Overstatement significantly narrows the possibility of exchanging the necessary information; understating somewhat weakens this process.
Other principles
What other principles and rules of secret record keeping can be identified? In addition to consistency, objectivity is also worth noting. What is the point here? If you give a brief description, it sounds like this: when working with secret documentation, you can not be guided by all sorts of subjective opinions and assumptions. There must be a certain list of rules in accordance with which all necessary measures will be developed.
The optimization principle is another integral element of secret record keeping. Its main point is that the smallest amount of data in classified documents is the best and optimal solution. Excess information will only violate the necessary level of security.
The principle of periodic inspection is to constantly monitor secret documentation.
About making changes to secret documents
As already mentioned, the degree of secrecy of a document is determined in accordance with a special list of information. After classification, documents are classified and sent for storage. Is it possible to amend these documents?
Instructions for secret records management, which contains the Federal Law on the state. secrets, fixes a number of objective situations and circumstances, according to which, documents can be subject to revision to varying degrees. However, it is worth noting that the period of declassification or change of documentation should not exceed 30 years. An exception is the decision of a special interagency commission. As in the case of classification, work to remove or reduce the secrecy stamps is carried out by a special, authorized group of persons.
Destruction of secret documents
The decision to destroy a secret document depends on the secrecy stamp imposed on it. If the vulture is marked with special importance or perfect secrecy, then all issues are again decided by the interagency commission. If we are talking about trade secrets, secret documentation of any enterprise, it is necessary to convene a special expert commission and managers. She will solve organizational issues, and management must give permission.
The process of destruction takes place, as a rule, in the composition of three or more people. Papers are destroyed using special machines - paper processing machines. Marks should be put in the registration forms that determine the accounting of documentation. It is also worth noting that the destruction of classified documents should occur in parallel with the destruction of the internal inventory.
Rules for conducting secret records
Further, we will talk about secret documentation of firms or other commercial structures. When working with secret documents, several basic rules and requirements must be taken into account. It is worth highlighting the most important points:
- it is necessary to observe the strictest control over the access of unauthorized persons to documents. It's about the staff. Thus, security should be established through a security or safety service.
- It is necessary to precisely identify the persons who have the right to work with classified documents. Accordingly, they should be endowed with special powers.
- A clear instruction (memo) on working with secret documents should be developed. All further work should be organized in strict accordance with it.
- A non-disclosure agreement on trade and production secrets must be taken from employees.
- There should be a constant material incentive for persons with the right to access classified documents. In particular, any secret management specialist should be under the personal supervision of management.
These are all the basic rules that must be followed when working with secret or secret documents.
Responsibilities of Secret Documents Specialists
The responsibilities of employees admitted to work with secret paperwork are different for each enterprise. In any case, there is no single instruction for working with classified documents. However, one can still single out the most common and common points that every employee dealing with secret papers should remember. In particular, we are talking about the fact that:
- The employee is personally responsible for the storage, preservation or alteration of documents.
- The employee must be alert, responsible and attentive. Any attempt by unauthorized persons to gain access to the documentation should be immediately stopped.
- The employee must know and abide by the instructions for working with classified documents.
In addition, it is necessary to highlight what the specialist is forbidden to do. These include:
- Messages of confidential information to any unauthorized persons;
- removal, transportation or modification of documentation without the knowledge of management;
- familiarization with the documentation on issues that are not within the competence of the employee;
- destruction of documents without the knowledge of management.
Appearance of classified documentation
It is worth giving the most general information about what the cover of secret documents should look like. Almost any department of secret record keeping fixes the following standards:
- upper right corner - secrecy stamp;
- under the bar - inventory number;
- documents with a signature stamp of perfect secrecy should have a red line from the upper right corner;
- sheets should be numbered and stitched with thread.
Naturally, there are many other requirements for such papers. However, the points mentioned above apply to almost any form of classified documents.