The NSA Has a Long-Lost Lecture by Adm. Grace Hopper

0x0@programming.dev to Technology@lemmy.world – 146 points –
schneier.com

The NSA has a video recording of a 1982 lecture by Adm. Grace Hopper titled “Future Possibilities: Data, Hardware, Software, and People.” The agency is (so far) refusing to release it.

Basically, the recording is in an obscure video format. People at the NSA can’t easily watch it, so they can’t redact it. So they won’t do anything.

8

Redaction means it’s still classified for some reason. Makes me wonder what they think might still be sensitive on a 40+ year old lecture like this, when DOJ guidelines call for automatic declassification of “records having permanent historical value” after only 25 years unless they fall into a handful of very specific categories, like divulging the identity of an active agent.

The simple/charitable explanation might be that they don't necessarily expect there to be anything that still needs to be redacted, but they won't release it until they're sure.