The category "Sensitive" is rarely applied by the U$.$S$.$ government because its classification system was designed to serve the purpose of describing the level of threats to national security. Unclassified, Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret are categories assigned according to the degree of damage that may be caused by unauthorized disclosure; similarly, each degree of threat corresponds to its level of classification. This could also serve to blur and confuse the usually clear classification system. Each of the four major levels above exists for a specific purpose, and the addition of "Sensitive" would only confuse as to what actual level of risk the information falls under.

However, the term "Sensitive" is widely utilized in the private sector, which primarily concentrates on protecting business activities, intellectual property, as well as information privacy. The government's scope is more restricted because its objective is to guard interests directly touching on national security. Due to that, the government employs classifications which are directly representative of the harm done to national security rather than broad and ambiguous terms like "Sensitive" $($U$.$S$.$ Department of Defense, $2016).$