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| Yes | 93% | 517 votes | Total: 554 votes | |
| No | 7% | 37 votes |
Yes
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Add to FavoritesPrivacy vs. Secrecy Part I.
Privacy is a right, secrecy is a choice.
Privacy is the state of being unobserved; changing clothes for example.
Secrecy is the act of keeping things hidden; such as a secret rendezvous.
There are certain similarities between the two words, but ultimately one is viewed as a right and the other is viewed as a choice. We expect to hold private conversations with others when the need arises, while secrecy can be viewed as dark, embarrassing or even dirty.
A secret is shared willingly by one party and told to another or kept inside for a lifetime; privacy is an expectation.
A secret can reside inside of a human being for their entire lives; privacy being an expectation is looked upon as business as usual. Everyone has at least one secret that they do not wish for anyone to find out' whether it is merely an oversight on the part of the secret-keeper or an actual terrible deed, the need to hide it is great.
When your boss is locked in his office on an important telephone call, one does not interrupt him because he needs his privacy;
When someone is in a public restroom, one does not stick their head over the top of the partition and begin a conversation, this is not merely the act of being decorous; the person in the stall has a right to their privacy;
It is often impossible to tell who is harboring a secret, yet it would be a fair guess that almost all of us are; you cannot glean it from a look or a feeling.
Even children have their secrets; they don't want to get into trouble for throwing the family silverware into the garbage a piece at a time, so they keep this information to themselves.
Privacy is an expectation that individuals have when it is appropriate; secrecy is the act of hiding something from one person, the world at large or oneself.
Sometimes a secret is a shameful act or thought and it is therefore in the best interest of the individual who harbors it to keep it well hidden, there are other times when it is a bit of good news or a surprise for another and therefore it is important not to spill' the beans too early lest the surprise' be ruined.
A Secret is a Private Matter; therein the two words, privacy and secrecy are intertwined once and for all.
Learn more about this author, Carrington M. Nye.
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No
Before entering into any thought provoking debate common sense should tell us to take a step back and reflect for a while before making a commitment (or as your parents probably put, engage your brain before you engage your mouth!).
When I first saw this topic the first question that came to mind is what do "they" mean by Privacy and Secrecy, if you look for a dictionary definition you'll find that both have very similar definitions.
Accordin g to the wikipedia website : "Privacy is the ability of an individual or group to keep their lives and personal affairs out of public view",
whilst (according to the same website...)
"Secrecy is the practice of sharing information among a group of people, which can be as small as one person, while hiding it from others."
The wiki entry goes on to say that "Secrecy is often controversial" and here I think is the crux of the problem. Most people would agree that our private lives are our own business and no one has the right to interfere, but as soon as the dreaded "S" word is mentioned the notion is that there exists a things which someone else does not want US to know about and innate human curiosity takes over often pushing common sense (and common decency) aside.
I believe that a lot of people in the yes camp will sight "national security" or "child protection" as valid reasons for forcibly invading the privacy or secrecy of another - I don't wish to comment on that argument mainly because I don't feel it's relevant to the initial question, but also because it opens another can of worms in the whole "Big Brother" debate.
In essence I believe that the notion of secrecy is the conscious dissemination of private information to a select chosen group of people who in turn will keep said information private. To argue any different requires first that all parties involved agree on the intended definitions of the terms.
Learn more about this author, Jon Howard.
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