§ 286.19 - Termination, disposal and unauthorized disclosure.

(a) Termination. The originator or other competent authority; e.g., initial denial and appellate authorities, shall terminate “For Official Use Only” markings or status when circumstances indicate that the information no longer requires protection from public disclosure. When FOUO status is terminated, all known holders shall be notified, to the extent practical. Upon notification, holders shall efface or remove the “For Official Use Only” markings, but records in file or storage need not be retrieved solely for that purpose.

(b) Disposal. (1) Nonrecord copies of FOUO materials may be destroyed by tearing each copy into pieces to prevent reconstructing, and placing them in regular trash containers. When local circumstances or experience indicates that this destruction method is not sufficiently protective of FOUO information, local authorities may direct other methods but must give due consideration to the additional expense balanced against the degree of sensitivity of the type of FOUO information contained in the records.

(2) Record copies of FOUO documents shall be disposed of in accordance with the disposal standards established under 44 U.S.C. 3301-3314, as implemented by DoD Component instructions concerning records disposal.

(c) Unauthorized disclosure. The unauthorized disclosure of FOUO records does not constitute an unauthorized disclosure of DoD information classified for security purposes. Appropriate administrative action shall be taken, however, to fix responsibility for unauthorized disclosure whenever feasible, and appropriate disciplinary action shall be taken against those responsible. Unauthorized disclosure of FOUO information that is protected by the Privacy Act may also result in civil and criminal sanctions against responsible persons. The DoD Component that originated the FOUO information shall be informed of its unauthorized disclosure.