Official Secrets Act

The Official Secrets Act is the name of several Acts of the United Kingdom Parliament for the protection of official information, mainly related to national security. The latest revision is Official Secrets Act 1989 (1989 chapter 6), repealing section 2 of Official Secrets Act 1911.

People working with secret information are commonly required to sign a statement to the effect that they agree to abide by the restrictions of the Official Secrets Act. This is popularly referred to as "signing the Official Secrets Act". Signing this has no effect on which actions are legal; it is intended more as a reminder to the person that they are under such obligations. To this end, it is common to sign this statement both before and after a period of employment that involves access to secrets.

External links

Official Secrets Act 1989 (official text from Her Majesty's Stationery Office) (http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1989/Ukpga_19890006_en_1.htm)
BBC News: Troubled history of Official Secrets Act (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/216868.stm)

The phrase official secrets act may also be used to refer to statutes of a similar nature in other countries.

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