AS IN ANY:

The federal government's tendency to over-classify data is harming national security and "erodes the basic trust that our citizens have in their government," said Avril Haines, U.S. director of national intelligence, in a letter to two senators.

Haines' letter follows sustained pressure from Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jerry Moran, R-Kan., to reform the country's declassification system, which they--along with privacy and government transparency advocates--have long argued is overly broad and antiquated.

"It is my view that deficiencies in the current classification system undermine our national security, as well as critical democratic objectives, by impeding our ability to share information in a timely manner, be that sharing with our intelligence partners, our oversight bodies or, when appropriate, with the general public," Haines said. "This reduces the Intelligence Community's capacity to effectively support senior policymaker decision-making, and further erodes the basic trust that our citizens have in their government. It is a fundamentally important issue that we must address."

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