Citizendia

"Secret" redirects here. For other uses, see Secret (disambiguation).
"Covert" redirects here; there is also Covert, New York and Covert Township, Michigan. Covert is a Town in Seneca County, New York, USA. The population was 2227 at the 2000 census Covert Township is a Civil township of Van Buren County in the U

Secrecy or furtiveness is the practice of sharing information among a group of people, which can be as small as one person, while hiding it from all others. Information as a concept has a diversity of meanings from everyday usage to technical settings That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controversial. Many people claim that, at least in some situations, it is better for everyone if everyone knows all the facts—there should be no secrets. The closely allied, perhaps even synonymous notions of confidentiality and privacy are often considered virtues. Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively Although this belief is held by many people, most argue that it is taken out of context. William Penn wrote, "It is wise not to seek a secret; and honest, not to reveal one. William Penn ( October 14, 1644 – July 30, 1718) was founder and "Absolute Proprietor" of the Province of Pennsylvania, "[1]

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Natural and sociological secrecy

Secrecy is built into biology. One reason for sexual reproduction and speciation may be to allow members of a species to share genetic improvements without those improvements becoming available to competitors. The Evolution of sexual reproduction is a major puzzle The first Fossilized evidence of sexually reproducing Organisms is from Eukaryotes of the Stenian In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Animals, including humans (in some cases), conceal the location of their den or nest from predators. DEN may refer to The country The IATA code for Denver International Airport (also the former IATA code of Stapleton International Airport A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs and/or provide a place to raise their offspring Humans attempt to consciously conceal aspects of themselves from others due to shame, or from fear of rejection, loss of acceptance, or loss of employment. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Shame is variously an affect emotion cognition state or condition Fear is an Emotional response to Threats and Danger. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific Stimulus, such as Acceptance, in Spirituality, Mindfulness, and Human Psychology, usually refers to the experience of a situation without an intention to change Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. 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. The self is a key construct in several schools of Psychology, broadly referring to the cognitive representation of one's identity Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the 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. Family denotes a group of People affiliated by consanguinity affinity or co-residence 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. Honor or Honour (see spelling differences) (the latter directly from the Latin word honos honoris) is the evaluation of a person's The information may even be something as trivial as a recipe. A recipe is a set of instructions that show how to prepare or make something especially a culinary dish.

Keeping one's strategy secret is important in many aspects of game theory. A Strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, most often "winning Game theory is a branch of Applied mathematics that is used in the Social sciences (most notably Economics) Biology, Engineering,

Government secrecy

Governments often attempt to conceal information from other governments and the public. For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. These state secrets can include weapon designs, military plans, diplomatic negotiation tactics, and secrets obtained illicitly from others ("intelligence"). A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting Negotiations between representatives of groups or states For Wikipedia's negotiation policy see WikipediaNegotiation. For other uses see Negotiation (disambiguation. Intelligence (abbreviated int or intel) is not Information, but the product of evaluated information valued for its currency and relevance rather than 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"). The Official Secrets Act is any of several Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the protection of official information mainly related to National The Espionage Act of 1917 was a United States federal law passed shortly after entering World War I on June 15 1917 which made it a Crime for a person The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An individual needs a security clearance for access and other protection methods, such as keeping documents in a safe, are stipulated. For use by the United Nations, see Security Clearance (UN A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to Classified A safe (also called strongbox, coffer or kist) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against Theft or damage

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. Critical Nuclear Weapon Design Information (CNWDI is a US Department of Defense category of TOP SECRET Restricted Data or SECRET Restricted Data that reveals the Many countries have laws that attempt to limit government secrecy, such as the U. S. Freedom of Information Act and sunshine laws. The Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA) is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United States Government officials sometimes leak information they are supposed to keep secret. A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release or the unsanctioned release of confidential information (For a recent (2005) example, see Plame affair. The phrase Plame Affair (also known as the CIA leak scandal, the CIA leak case, the CIA leak grand jury investigation, and Plamegate) refers )

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.

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. A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business The definition of charitable organization, and of charity varies according to the country and in some instances the region of the country in which the charitable organization operates Competitive advantage is a position a firm occupies against its competitors New products under development, unique manufacturing techniques, or simply lists of customers are types of information protected by trade secret laws. A trade secret is a Formula, practice, Process, Design, instrument, Pattern, or compilation of Information which The patent system encourages inventors to publish information in exchange for a limited time monopoly on its use, though patent applications are initially secret. A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an In Economics, a monopoly (from Greek monos, alone or single + polein, to sell exists when a specific individual or enterprise has sufficient Secret societies use secrecy as a way to attract members by creating a sense of importance. Secret society is a term used to describe a variety of organizations

Other laws require organizations to keep certain information secret, such as medical records (HIPAA in the U. A medical record, health record, or medical chart is a systematic documentation of a Patient 's Medical history and care. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ( HIPAA) was enacted by the U S. ), or financial reports that are under preparation (to limit insider trading). Financial statements (or financial reports) are formal records of a business' financial Insider trading is the trading of a Corporation 's Stock or other securities (e Europe has particularly strict laws about database privacy. A Computer Database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system

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. Originally coined by its critics and opponents " neoliberalism " is a label referring to the recent reemergence of Economic liberalism or Classical liberalism 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[2], has added credence to the views of skeptics about the prudency of the neoliberal reforms themselves.

Technology secrecy

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

Preservation of secrets is one of the goals of information security. In Computer security, full disclosure means to disclose all the details of a security problem which are known In Cryptography, Kerckhoffs' principle (also called Kerckhoffs' assumption, axiom or law) was stated by Auguste Kerckhoffs in In Cryptography and Computer security, security through obscurity (sometimes security by obscurity) is a controversial principle in Security engineering Information security means protecting information and information systems from unauthorized access use disclosure disruption modification or destruction Techniques used include physical security and cryptography. Physical security describes measures that prevent or deter Attackers from accessing a facility resource or information stored on physical media Cryptography (or cryptology; from Greek grc κρυπτός kryptos, "hidden secret" and grc γράφω gráphō, "I write" The latter depends on the secrecy of cryptographic keys. In Cryptography, a key is a piece of information (a Parameter) that determines the functional output of a cryptographic algorithm Secrecy is central to organized crime. "Crime syndicate" redirects here For the DC Comics group of villains see Crime Syndicate. 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. In Computer science, the principle of information hiding is the hiding of design decisions in a computer program that are most likely to change thus protecting Software engineering is the application of a systematic disciplined quantifiable approach to the development operation and maintenance of Software. 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.

Hazards of secrecy

Excessive secrecy is often cited as a source of much human conflict. One may have to lie in order to hold a secret, which might lead to psychological repercussions. A lie (also called prevarication) is a type of Deception in the form of an untruthful statement especially with the intention to deceive others often with the further Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and 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 answers the question. Nearly 2500 years ago, Sophocles wrote, "Do nothing secretly; for Time sees and hears all things, and discloses all. Sophocles (ˈsɒfəkliːz Ancient Greek, sopʰoklɛ̂ːs circa " Around the same time, Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha, once said "Three things cannot long stay hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth". Siddhārtha Gautama ( Sanskrit; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual Teacher from Ancient India and the founder The meaning of the word truth extends from Honesty, Good faith, and Sincerity in general to agreement with Fact or Reality

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. Military intelligence (abbreviated MI int Commonwealth, or intel " Born secret " and " born classified " are both terms which refer to a policy of information being classified from the moment of its inception usually A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking Embarrassment is an Emotional state experienced upon having a socially or professionally unacceptable act or condition witnessed by or revealed to others Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people

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. A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Military tactics ( Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating

Some involve information in broader areas, such as secure communications, cryptography, intelligence operations and cooperation with third-parties. Cryptography (or cryptology; from Greek grc κρυπτός kryptos, "hidden secret" and grc γράφω gráphō, "I write"

See also

References

  1. ^ Secrets quotes. Quotes about Secrets
  2. ^ need ref

The Federal Information Manual. JURIST is an online legal news service hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, written by founder Professor Bernard Hibbitts and a staff of more than P. Stephen Gidiere III. American Bar Association (2006)[1].

External links

Dictionary

secrecy

-noun

  1. Concealment; the condition of being secret or hidden
  2. The habit of keeping secrets.
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