Tear Line

A place in an intelligence report (usually denoted by a series of dashes) at which the sanitized version of a more highly classified or controlled report begins. The sanitized information below the tear line should contain the substance of the information above the tear line, but without identifying the sensitive sources and methods. This will permit wider dissemination in accordance with the Need- to-Know, need-to-release, and write-to-release principles and foreign disclosure guidelines of the information below the tear line.