Secrecy (also called clandestinity or furtiveness) is the practice of hiding information

from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That
which is kept hidden is known as the secret.

Secrecy is often controversial, depending on the content of the secret, the group or people
keeping the secret, and the motivation for secrecy. Secrecy by government entities is
often decried as excessive or in promotion of poor operation; excessive revelation of
information on individuals can conflict with virtues of privacy and confidentiality.

Secrecy is sometimes considered of life or death importance. U.S. soldier at camp during
World War II.
Contents
[hide]

• 1 Secrecy in sociology and zoology

o 1.1 Secret sharing (anthropology)
• 2 Government secrecy
• 3 Corporate security
• 4 Technology secrecy
• 5 Military secrecy
• 6 Views on secrecy
• 7 See also
• 8 References

• 9 External links

[edit] Secrecy in sociology and zoology

Main article: Sociological aspects of secrecy
Animals conceal the location of their den or nest from predators. Squirrels bury nuts,
hiding them, and they try to remember their locations later.

Humans attempt to consciously conceal aspects of themselves from others due to shame,
or from fear of violence, rejection, harassment, loss of acceptance, or loss of
employment. On a deeper level, humans attempt to conceal aspects of their own self
which they are not capable of incorporating psychologically into their conscious being.
Families sometimes maintain "family secrets", obliging family members never discuss
disagreeable issues concerning the family, either with those outside the family and
sometimes even within the family. Many "family secrets" are maintained by using a
mutually agreed-upon construct (an official family story) when speaking with outside
members. Agreement to maintain the secret is often coerced through "shaming" and
reference to family honor. The information may even be something as trivial as a recipe.

Keeping one's strategy secret is important in many aspects of game theory.

[edit] Secret sharing (anthropology)

In anthropology secret sharing is one way for men to establish traditional relations with
other men.[citation needed] A commonly used[citation needed] academic narrative that describes this
kind of behavior is Joseph Conrad's short story "The Secret Sharer".

[edit] Government secrecy

Governments often attempt to conceal information from other governments and the
public. These state secrets can include weapon designs, military plans, diplomatic
negotiation tactics, and secrets obtained illicitly from others ("intelligence"). Most
nations have some form of Official Secrets Act (the Espionage Act in the U.S.) and
classify material according to the level of protection needed (hence the term "classified
information"). An individual needs a security clearance for access and other protection
methods, such as keeping documents in a safe, are stipulated.

Few people dispute the desirability of keeping Critical Nuclear Weapon Design
Information secret, but many believe government secrecy to be excessive and too often
employed for political purposes. Many countries have laws that attempt to limit
government secrecy, such as the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and sunshine laws.
Government officials sometimes leak information they are supposed to keep secret. (For
a recent (2005) example, see Plame affair.)

Secrecy in elections is a growing issue, particularly secrecy of vote counts on

computerized vote counting machines. While voting, citizens are acting in a unique
sovereign or "owner" capacity (instead of being a subject of the laws, as is true outside of
elections) in selecting their government servants. It is argued that secrecy is
impermissible as against the public in the area of elections where the government gets all
of its power and taxing authority. In any event, permissible secrecy varies significantly
with the context involved.
[edit] Corporate security
Organizations, ranging from multi-national for profit corporations to nonprofit charities,
keep secrets for competitive advantage, to meet legal requirements, or, in some cases, to
conceal nefarious behavior. New products under development, unique manufacturing
techniques, or simply lists of customers are types of information protected by trade secret
laws. The patent system encourages inventors to publish information in exchange for a
limited time monopoly on its use, though patent applications are initially secret. Secret
societies use secrecy as a way to attract members by creating a sense of importance.

Other laws require organizations to keep certain information secret, such as medical
records (HIPAA in the U.S.), or financial reports that are under preparation (to limit
insider trading). Europe has particularly strict laws about database privacy.

In many countries, neoliberal reforms of government have included expanding the

outsourcing of government tasks and functions to private businesses with the aim of
improving efficiency and effectiveness in government administration. However, among
the criticisms of these reforms is the claim that the pervasive use of "Commercial-in-
confidence" (or secrecy) clauses in contracts between government and private providers
further limits public accountability of governments and prevents proper public scrutiny of
the performance and probity of the private companies. Concerns have been raised that
'commercial-in-confidence' is open to abuse because it can be deliberately used to hide
corporate or government maladministration and even corruption. A string of publicly
scandalous revelations about poor, wasteful or corrupt management of government-
funded private contracts left unchecked for lengthy periods, often in prison management,
[citation needed]
has added credence to the views of skeptics about the prudency of the
neoliberal reforms themselves.

[edit] Technology secrecy

See also: Full disclosure, Kerckhoffs' principle, and security through obscurity

Preservation of secrets is one of the goals of information security. Techniques used

include physical security and cryptography. The latter depends on the secrecy of
cryptographic keys. Secrecy is central to organized crime. Many believe that security
technology can be more effective if it itself is not kept secret.

Information hiding is a design principle in much software engineering. It is considered

easier to verify software reliability if one can be sure that different parts of the program
only have access to certain information.

[edit] Military secrecy

See also: Military intelligence and born secret
A military secret is secret information that is purposely not made available to the general
public and hence to any enemy, by the military in order to gain an advantage or to not
reveal a weakness, avoid embarrassment or to help in propaganda efforts.

Most military secrets are military in nature, such as the strengths and weaknesses of
weapons systems, tactics, training methods, number and location of specific weapons and
plans.

Some involve information in broader areas, such as secure communications,

cryptography, intelligence operations and cooperation with third-parties.

[edit] Views on secrecy

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Secrets

Excessive secrecy is often cited[citation needed] as a source of much human conflict. One may
have to lie in order to hold a secret, which might lead to psychological repercussions.
[original research?]
The alternative, declining to answer when asked something, may suggest the
answer and may therefore not always be suitable for keeping a secret. Also, the other may
insist that one answer the question.[improper synthesis?] Nearly 2500 years ago, Sophocles wrote,
"Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all." And Gautama
Siddhartha, the Buddha, once said "Three things cannot long stay hidden: the sun, the
moon and the truth".