Equities (Declassification)
A classifying agency's interest in classified information contained in a record, which must be reviewed and concurred in before that information can be declassified or released.
In declassification, equities are the interests that agencies hold in classified information. A single record often contains information originated by more than one agency — each of those agencies has an equity in its own information. Because one agency cannot unilaterally release another agency’s classified information, records must be referred to every agency with an equity for review and concurrence before that information can be declassified.
Managing equities and referrals is one of the hardest logistical challenges in declassification. Across millions of pages and many agencies, identifying which equities a document touches, routing it for review, and reconciling the responses can take considerable time. Unresolved equities are a common reason information remains redacted even in records that are otherwise being released.