Overview
ISO 4669-2:2025 - Document management - Information classification, marking and handling - Part 2: Functional and technical requirements for ICMH solutions defines functional and technical requirements for solutions that classify, mark, handle and share sensitive documents in digital form. It complements ISO 4669-1 (the ICMH scheme requirements) and focuses on software and service solutions that control and distribute digital content inside and outside an organization. Distribution via physical media is explicitly out of scope.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Functional requirements
- Support for consistent application of an ICMH scheme: classification, marking and handling must follow organizational policies.
- Coordination and mapping of classifications between organizations to support secure sharing and interoperability.
- Procedures for assessing partner/third-party capability and establishing binding agreements for information handling.
- Visibility and accessibility of marks (visual or machine-readable) so authorized users and systems can interpret classification.
- Marking and protection
- Marks can be data embedded in the document, added attributes, or displayed on the document; they must convey classification and may include metadata (date, owner, expiry, usage rights).
- Use marks to enforce access control, indicate document authenticity and to show whether a document can be unprotected by owner/third party.
- Digital signatures/seals noted as examples of marks that also provide authenticity.
- Audit and traceability
- ICMH systems must support auditing of classification assignments, marking events, deliveries to third parties and verification of access/usage rules.
- Technical system setup
- Requirements for preparing classification controls, handling documents by the ICMH system, content preparation, marking technologies and distribution/sharing policies.
- Emphasis on management processes to define classification structures (by confidentiality, data type, purpose/user).
- Annex material
- Annex A provides examples of classification approaches and applied technologies (informative).
Applications and who should use it
ISO 4669-2:2025 is intended for:
- Software developers and service providers building or supplying ICMH solutions (DLP, ECM, rights management, secure collaboration).
- Information security managers, records managers, and IT architects designing classification and handling workflows.
- Procurement and compliance teams comparing and selecting digital document control systems.
- Organizations sharing sensitive digital content with partners, requiring mapped classifications and enforceable handling policies.
Practical uses include selecting solutions that meet privacy, security and traceability needs; implementing machine-readable marking and access controls; enforcing cross-organization handling agreements; and supporting auditability for compliance.
Related standards
- ISO 4669-1 (Information classification, marking and handling - scheme/system requirements) - complements Part 2 and should be used together when designing or evaluating ICMH solutions.