CUI category: Privileged Safety Information (PSI)

Privileged Safety Information, marked PSI, is the Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) category for the protected parts of a military mishap safety investigation. The CUI Registry page for Privileged Safety Information, last reviewed May 13, 2025, describes PSI as information reflective of a deliberative process in the safety investigation, or given to a safety investigator pursuant to a promise of confidentiality, which the safety privilege protects from being released outside safety channels or from being used for any purpose except mishap prevention. The Registry's category list places PSI in the Defense index grouping. This page covers the Registry entry, its two authorities, the Department of Defense (DoD) rule that defines the term, how a safety report differs from a legal one, and how the Navy marks it. For the program as a whole, see What is CUI?.

What the Registry lists for PSI

The Registry page is short. The category marking is PSI, the banner for Basic authorities is CUI, and the alternative Basic banner is CUI//PSI; there is no Specified banner. The authority table has two rows: Public Law 115-232, Basic, banner CUI; and 10 USC 185 - Joint Safety Council, Basic, banner CUI. The sanctions column is empty for both.

That makes PSI a CUI Basic category in the Registry's terms. Under 32 CFR 2002.20, paragraph (b)(2)(ii), the CUI Program does not require category markings on CUI Basic, though an agency's CUI senior agency official may mandate them. A document marked CUI//PSI shows the category by choice. The CUI Marking Handbook, Version 1.1 of December 6, 2016, says the SP- prefix belongs to authorities the Registry tags as Specified.

The Registry's description is taken almost word for word from the glossary of DoDI 6055.07, Mishap Notification, Investigation, Reporting, and Record Keeping, dated June 6, 2011 and incorporating Change 2 of June 11, 2019, and both statutes on the Registry page reach back to that instruction.

The two authorities: Public Law 115-232 and 10 U.S.C. 185

Public Law 115-232 is the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019, enacted August 13, 2018. The Registry cites the whole law, but the relevant text is section 1087, which established the National Commission on Military Aviation Safety. Subsection (j), Protection of Privileged Safety Information, let the Commission request PSI from DoD and required it to handle the information as though it were a non-DoD Federal agency under Enclosure 5, Section 8 of DoDI 6055.07. No PSI could be used in a public hearing or appear in any record of the proceedings; PSI secured from DoD could not be published or retained, had to be returned to the originating DoD organization, and could not appear in the Commission's report, though aggregated or completely sanitized data could. Paragraph (6) defined the term by reference to DoDI 6055.07 dated June 6, 2011.

10 U.S.C. 185, Joint Safety Council, is the standing authority. The section established a Joint Safety Council within the Office of the Deputy Secretary of Defense. Subsection (i), Data Collection, is the part that matters for CUI: under regulations the Secretary of Defense issues, the Council has access to DoD databases needed for its work, may enter into agreements with the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and other Federal agencies to share safety data, and the data it collects may include privileged safety information that is protected from disclosure or discovery to any person. The source credits show the section was added by Public Law 117-81, section 372(a), on December 27, 2021, as section 184, and renumbered as section 185 by Public Law 118-31 on December 22, 2023.

Neither statute creates the privilege. The privilege itself is older, and the service regulations say where it comes from. DAFI 91-204, Safety Investigations and Reports, dated March 10, 2021, says at paragraph 4.3 that PSI is "exempt by case law from disclosure outside the DoD Safety Community" and that the military safety privilege is judicially recognized. OPNAV M-5102.1, the Navy and Marine Corps Safety Investigation and Reporting Manual of September 27, 2021, says at paragraph 804 that case law and statutory authority protect the information from public release and non-safety uses under executive privilege.

10 U.S.C. 2254 and why it is not the safety privilege

Searches for "safety privilege 10 usc 2254" point at a different statute. 10 U.S.C. 2254, Treatment of reports of aircraft accident investigations, was added by Public Law 102-484 on October 23, 1992. Subsection (a) applies the section to a Military Department Secretary's aircraft accident investigations and expressly excludes a safety investigation, one done solely to determine the cause and prevent similar accidents.

Subsection (b) requires the Secretary, on request, to release unclassified tapes, scientific reports, and other factual information about the accident before the final report, where release would not undermine the investigation or compromise national security, and says officials responsible for a safety investigation of the same accident may not make that disclosure. Subsection (c) requires the final accident report to state the investigators' opinion on cause where the evidence supports one. Subsection (d) says those opinions may not be considered as evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding arising from the accident and may not be treated as an admission of liability.

So 10 U.S.C. 2254 is about the legal report, the one the public and the courts get. The Air Force calls it the Accident Investigation Board report under AFI 51-307, and DAFI 91-204 paragraph 4.4.2.2 names it as a source that may be used for punitive or adverse action, in contrast to the privileged safety report.

What DoDI 6055.07 says is privileged

Enclosure 5 of DoDI 6055.07 is titled Privileged Safety Information. Section 1 gives the reason for the privilege: a national defense need for rapid and accurate assessment of the causes of mishaps to prevent a recurrence and maintain mission readiness. Section 2 lists what is privileged. The first item is information given to a safety investigator pursuant to a promise of confidentiality, with anything derived from it or referring to it. The second is the products of the deliberative processes of safety investigators, with seven examples: draft and final findings, opinions, conclusions, mishap causes, recommendations, and analyses; diagrams and exhibits that depict the investigators' analysis; animations that incorporate privileged information; staged or simulated photographs, films, and videotapes made for the analysis; life sciences material containing an investigator's analysis; investigator notes; and reviews and endorsements of safety investigation reports.

The same section says what is not privileged: uninterpreted animations made exclusively from flight recorder raw data, and photographs that show a measuring device against evidence solely to demonstrate scale. Section 4.e adds that privileged information that has been sanitized is no longer treated as privileged, and that only a DoD Component safety center may sanitize and release a privileged safety report. Sanitizing means removing the date and location of the mishap, the materiel identification number, names and other identifiers of participants, witnesses, and investigators, confidential witness information, and any detail that identifies the mishap or a confidential source. Some mishaps cannot be sanitized because publicity has made the sequence recognizable; that information is not released.

Section 3 sets the rules for a promise of confidentiality. The promise must be explicit, documented, given only as needed and not on a blanket basis, and limited to what the witness gives the safety investigator, who must tell the witness that the same information given to another investigation is not protected. Promises may be given in investigations of aviation mishaps, friendly fire mishaps, and mishaps involving complex systems and military-unique items, and elsewhere only when the Secretary of a Military Department authorizes them.

How a safety report differs from a legal report, and who may see PSI

Enclosure 4 of DoDI 6055.07 lists the kinds of investigation a mishap can produce. A legal investigation inquires into all the facts and circumstances and preserves evidence for litigation, claims, disciplinary action, adverse administrative action, and public disclosure under DoD 5400.7-R, and must be conducted independently from the safety investigation. A safety investigation has one stated purpose: prevent mishaps. Personnel who conduct safety investigations may not conduct legal investigations of the same mishap. Safety investigators must make factual information and documents that do not contain PSI available to other investigators as soon as they release them, and if they discover criminal conduct that caused the mishap they suspend the investigation and notify the legal and criminal investigative authorities.

Section 4 of Enclosure 5 lists the uses PSI may not serve. It shall not be used to support disciplinary or adverse administrative action, to determine misconduct or line-of-duty status, as evidence before any evaluation board, or to determine liability in administrative claims or litigation for or against the Government. It shall not be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or in response to discovery, subpoenas, or court orders except as section 10 of the enclosure provides.

The rest of the enclosure governs who may see PSI outside the safety community. Section 5 lets the Chairman or Ranking Minority Member of the Senate or House Armed Services Committees receive a briefing on a privileged report, under a 1989 agreement, without copies or further release. Section 6 lets a DoD Component give a contractor access to particular PSI for an articulated safety purpose after the contractor signs a nondisclosure agreement, but never to a confidential witness statement unless the contractor is directly supporting the investigation. Sections 7 and 8 allow reciprocal agreements with foreign military safety agencies and with other Federal agencies, only where the recipient protects the privilege and shares its own safety information in return, and never the confidential witness statement. Section 10 covers court proceedings: the releasable portions of a report go to a party on request, and the Secretary of the Military Department asserts the safety privilege over the rest.

How the Navy handles PSI under OPNAVINST 3750.6 and OPNAV M-3750.6

The Navy's aviation safety rules now sit in OPNAV M-3750.6, the Naval Aviation Safety Program manual dated October 24, 2024, which carries out the policy in OPNAVINST 3750.6T. Paragraph 105 makes CNO N09F the sole authorized release authority for safety information within the Department of the Navy. The rules on PSI protection are regulatory orders that apply to all Department of the Navy personnel, and a violation by military personnel is punishable under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. A note to that paragraph says the Naval Safety Command (NAVSAFECOM) will not release any part of a Safety Investigation Report (SIR) or endorsement outside the DoD safety structure until CNO N09F signs the final endorsement; after that, the non-privileged portions may be provided for FOIA, congressional, legal, inspector general, contractor, and media requests. Paragraph 105.j says NAVSAFECOM is authorized to assert the safety privilege in court under DoDI 6055.07.

Paragraph 508 explains the concept of privilege. Subparagraph 508a says military and Federal courts grant protection under executive privilege to information given under promises of confidentiality and to the analysis, conclusions, and recommendations of the Aviation Mishap Board (AMB) or single investigating officer and endorsers, and names CNO N09F the final authority on whether evidence is privileged. The same subparagraph gives the marking rule: all PSI must be marked "UNCLASSIFIED//CUI//SP-PSI" or "CUI//SP-PSI." Subparagraph 508b governs promises of confidentiality, which the AMB may give sparingly and must give explicitly, with the protected witness signing the OPNAV 3750/16 page that offers a promise. Subparagraph 508c lists ten uses privileged information may not serve, including misconduct or line-of-duty determinations under the Manual of the Judge Advocate General (JAGMAN), discipline, Government claims, Field Naval Aviator Evaluation Boards, and any part of a JAGMAN investigation report.

The manual keeps the safety and legal tracks apart. A JAGMAN investigation of the same mishap is conducted independently, AMB members may not be assigned to it, SIRs and hazard reports may not be appended to or extracted into it, and statements made to an AMB are the property of the Naval Aviation Safety Program. Not everything in the Navy safety system is PSI, either. Paragraph 408 says preliminary messages and status messages are not SIRs and must not contain any PSI, any source of information, any AMB analysis, or any causal factor. Paragraph 409 says they are marked CUI in the Risk Management Information system, and paragraph 611 says the same of hazard reports, which paragraph 610 declares not privileged and open to FOIA release.

Who designates PSI, and how it is marked and portion-marked

The designator is the safety organization, not the originating command. DoDI 6055.07 puts the sanitize-and-release decision with the DoD Component safety center and court assertion of the privilege with the Military Department Secretary. In the Navy, CNO N09F decides what is privileged and what may be released; in the Air Force, DAFI 91-204 paragraph 4.4.3.1 routes release requests to the Air Force Safety Center's judge advocate. The documents that carry PSI follow from the Enclosure 5 list: the safety investigation report and its endorsements, board deliberations and notes, confidential witness statements, analytical diagrams and reconstructions, and life sciences analysis. DAFI 91-204 paragraph 4.2 says Class A through E mishap safety reports contain PSI, but not all of the information in them is privileged, and OPNAV M-5102.1 paragraph 807c makes a similar point: the findings, analysis, conclusions, causal factors, and recommendations of a safety investigation report are privileged.

The Registry gives the banner CUI or CUI//PSI. The Navy and Marine Corps manuals add the SP- form. Appendix 8-A of OPNAV M-5102.1 explains that the Department of the Navy uses the Specified category marking CUI//SP-PSI to indicate additional dissemination control of PSI beyond that used for CUI Basic, because access to Basic CUI is broader than the privilege allows. The appendix requires the banner at the top of the front cover, title page, first page, and back cover, and at the top of each internal page containing PSI, and for portion marks it allows either "(U//CUI//SP-PSI)" or "(CUI//SP-PSI)" placed immediately before the text of the portion. For portion marking in general, 32 CFR 2002.20(f) says agencies are permitted and encouraged to portion mark all CUI, and the Marking Handbook says a portion with no CUI is marked (U).

Two things follow for a reader. First, the SP- form on a Navy document reflects Navy policy, while the Registry page lists only Basic authorities; both forms are in use. Second, DoDI 5200.48, Controlled Unclassified Information, effective March 6, 2020, requires every DoD CUI document to carry a five-line designation indicator on the first page naming the Component, the office, the CUI category, the dissemination control, and a point of contact, and its paragraph 3.4.g says DoD made no required distinction between Basic and Specified during initial implementation.

Decontrol, release, and common confusions

The general rule is in 32 CFR 2002.18: an agency may decontrol CUI when the governing authority no longer requires control, when the agency releases the information to the public, or when a pre-set date or event occurs, and unauthorized disclosure never counts as decontrol. For PSI the governing authority is the privilege, which ends by sanitization or authorized release, not by the passage of time. DoDI 6055.07 section 4.e is the decontrol mechanism in practice: once a Component safety center sanitizes a report, the deliberative content is no longer privileged. The Navy's version is the final endorsement: once CNO N09F signs it, the non-privileged portions of the SIR become available for FOIA and other requests, and the privileged portions stay inside safety channels. Nothing in that process makes PSI public; 32 CFR 2002.18(e) says decontrol is not authorization for public release.

Five confusions recur. PSI is not the whole mishap report: the factual record is shared with legal investigators and often released, while the deliberative product and confidential statements are privileged, and a preliminary message or hazard report is CUI without being PSI. PSI is not the legal investigation: 10 U.S.C. 2254 governs the aircraft accident report the public and the courts receive. PSI is more than a FOIA exemption: OPNAV M-5102.1 Appendix 8-A says courts protect unclassified PSI under executive privilege and FOIA exemption (b)(5) covers it as deliberative process material, but the Navy adds SP-PSI because access to Basic CUI is much broader than what is needed to protect PSI. PSI is Basic in the Registry and marked Specified by the Navy, so a reader of a Navy safety report should expect the SP- form and should not read it as a different category. Finally, the privilege does not protect what a witness says elsewhere; DoDI 6055.07 section 3.e requires investigators to tell every confidential witness so.

What to check

• Is the document a safety investigation report, endorsement, or board product, or a preliminary message, status message, or hazard report that the service manuals say contains no PSI?
• Does the banner read CUI//PSI, CUI//SP-PSI, or UNCLASSIFIED//CUI//SP-PSI, and does the designation indicator name the safety organization that controls it?
• Has a DoD Component safety center sanitized the report, or has the final endorsement been signed, so that the non-privileged portions may be released?
• Is the intended use mishap prevention, or a use that DoDI 6055.07 section 4 forbids: discipline, a line-of-duty determination, a claim, a JAGMAN or other legal investigation, or a FOIA response?
• If a contractor, another Federal agency, or a foreign safety agency is to receive it, is the agreement that Enclosure 5 sections 6 through 8 require in place, and has every confidential witness statement been withheld?
• Does the request come from a court or a party to litigation, so that the privilege must be asserted under section 10?

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Questions people ask

What is privileged safety information?

The CUI Registry describes Privileged Safety Information (PSI) as information reflective of a deliberative process in a safety investigation, or given to a safety investigator under a promise of confidentiality, which the safety privilege protects from release outside safety channels or from use for any purpose except mishap prevention. DoDI 6055.07 Enclosure 5 lists what that covers: findings, causes, recommendations, analyses, investigator notes, endorsements, and confidential witness statements.

What is CUI PSI?

PSI is the Registry's category marking for Privileged Safety Information, a category in the Defense index grouping. The Registry page lists two authorities, Public Law 115-232 and 10 U.S.C. 185, both Basic, so the banner is CUI, with CUI//PSI as the alternative Basic banner. Navy and Marine Corps manuals direct the Specified form CUI//SP-PSI, so a reader will see both forms on real documents.

How is a mishap report marked under CUI?

OPNAV M-3750.6, dated October 24, 2024, says all PSI must be marked UNCLASSIFIED//CUI//SP-PSI or CUI//SP-PSI, and that preliminary messages, status messages, and hazard reports, which contain no privileged information, are marked CUI. OPNAV M-5102.1 of September 27, 2021 requires the CUI//SP-PSI banner at the top of the cover, title page, first page, and each internal page containing PSI in an unclassified document and portion marks of (CUI//SP-PSI) or (U//CUI//SP-PSI).

What is the safety privilege under 10 USC 2254?

10 U.S.C. 2254 governs accident investigation reports, not the safety privilege. Subsection (a) excludes a safety investigation from the accident investigations the section covers, subsection (b) requires public release of factual information, and subsection (d) bars the investigators' opinions on cause from use as evidence in civil or criminal proceedings. DAFI 91-204 paragraph 4.3 describes the safety privilege itself as judicially recognized and resting on case law, and OPNAV M-5102.1 paragraph 804 cites case law and statutory authority, not that section.

What is the difference between a safety investigation and a legal investigation?

DoDI 6055.07 Enclosure 4 gives each a purpose. A safety investigation exists to prevent mishaps. A legal investigation inquires into the facts and preserves evidence for litigation, claims, disciplinary action, adverse administrative action, and public disclosure, and must be conducted independently of the safety investigation. People who conduct the safety investigation may not conduct the legal one, and only factual, non-privileged material passes between them.

Can privileged safety information be used for discipline?

No. DoDI 6055.07 Enclosure 5 section 4 says PSI shall be used for safety purposes only and shall not be used to support disciplinary or adverse administrative action, to determine misconduct or line-of-duty status, as evidence before an evaluation board, or to determine liability in claims or litigation. DAFI 91-204 paragraph 4.4.2 lists the Air Force's adverse actions that may not rest on it, and OPNAV M-3750.6 paragraph 508c gives the Navy's list.

Is privileged safety information releasable under FOIA?

No. DoDI 6055.07 Enclosure 5 section 4.b(4) says PSI shall not be released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, discovery, subpoenas, or court orders except as section 10 of the enclosure provides, and DAFI 91-204 paragraph 4.4.2.3 repeats the rule. Section 4.e adds that once a DoD Component safety center sanitizes a report, the sanitized findings and recommendations are no longer privileged.

What is a promise of confidentiality in a safety investigation?

DoDI 6055.07 Enclosure 5 section 3 lets safety investigators promise a witness confidentiality to encourage frank communication. The promise must be explicit, documented, given only as needed, and limited to what the witness tells the safety investigator; the same information given to another investigation is not protected. Promises may be given in aviation, friendly fire, and complex-system mishaps, and elsewhere only when a Military Department Secretary authorizes them.

Who designates privileged safety information?

The safety investigation board or single investigating officer creates it, and the DoD Component's safety organization controls it. DoDI 6055.07 says only a Component safety center may sanitize and release a privileged report, and that the Secretary of the Military Department asserts the privilege in court. OPNAV M-3750.6 names CNO N09F as the sole release authority for Navy safety information and the final authority on whether evidence is privileged.

What does Public Law 115-232 say about privileged safety information?

Section 1087 of Public Law 115-232, the FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, created the National Commission on Military Aviation Safety. Subsection (j) let the Commission request PSI from DoD, required it to handle PSI as a non-DoD Federal agency under Enclosure 5, Section 8 of DoDI 6055.07, barred PSI from public hearings and reports, required its return, and defined the term by reference to DoDI 6055.07 dated June 6, 2011.

Sources

1. 1Privileged Safety Information (CUI Registry category) · National Archives, Information Security Oversight Office
2. 2CUI Registry: Category List · National Archives, Information Security Oversight Office
3. 3CUI Marking Handbook, Version 1.1, December 6, 2016 · National Archives, Information Security Oversight Office
4. 432 CFR 2002.18 Decontrolling · GovInfo, U.S. Government Publishing Office
5. 532 CFR 2002.20 Marking · GovInfo, U.S. Government Publishing Office
6. 6Public Law 115-232, John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 · GovInfo, U.S. Government Publishing Office
7. 710 U.S.C. 185 Joint Safety Council · GovInfo, U.S. Government Publishing Office
8. 810 U.S.C. 2254 Treatment of reports of aircraft accident investigations · GovInfo, U.S. Government Publishing Office
9. 9DoD Instruction 6055.07, Mishap Notification, Investigation, Reporting, and Record Keeping, June 6, 2011, incorporating Change 2, June 11, 2019 · Department of Defense, Directives Division
10. 10DoD Instruction 5200.48, Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), March 6, 2020 · Department of Defense, Directives Division
11. 11OPNAV M-3750.6, Naval Aviation Safety Program, October 24, 2024 · Naval Safety Command
12. 12OPNAV M-5102.1 / MCO 5100.29C Volume 9, Navy and Marine Corps Safety Investigation and Reporting Manual, September 27, 2021 · Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
13. 13DAFI 91-204, Safety Investigations and Reports, March 10, 2021 · Department of the Air Force, e-Publishing

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