After democratic political changes in Slovenia, when a new government under the leadership of Lojze Peterle took over as the first non-communist government since 1945, the majority of UDB-a materials were destroyed. Thus only a fraction was preserved – a fair assessment is around 10%. In July 1998, the UDB-a collection was handed over to the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia. Until 2006, access to the collections for researchers and individuals remained limited due to technical, organizational and legal reasons.

The law governing the protection of documents and archives and archival institutions stipulates limits for accessing UDB-a materials. Especially important is the second paragraph of Article 65, which stipulates that materials containing sensitive personal data (data on racial, national or ethnic origin, political, religious or philosophic beliefs, membership in a political party and trade union, health, sex life, entry into or removal from criminal records maintained in line with the criminal code and biometric traits, if their use could lead to an individual in relation to any of the above stated conditions) shall become available for use 75 years after their creation, or ten years after the death of the person concerned, provided the date of death is known, and unless otherwise provided by relevant regulations. However, researchers and others are able to gain full and unimpeded access pursuant to a decision by the Slovenian archival commission.