What is Classified Information

Certain information and personal data, held by the government, needs to be kept secret because its disclosure to the general public could jeopardize the operation of the state. On the other hand, the state should allow the public to have free access to all other state-held information. To ensure a balance between these two claims of modern democratic societies, there is a need to legally regulate this matter. The state should have a law on access to public information and a law that will regulate the classification, access to and storage of information which should be kept secret. This chapter analyzes the global experiences in regulating this matter, with a particular emphasis on the practice in the Republic of Macedonia.