Preprint Nation-National Defence and Security-Introduction

Scheppele recognizes that the intentional retention of information in the relationship between two or more social actors varies according to the contexts of the interaction, but its definition does not allow us to differentiate between private secrets and public interests.

The Shils approach is preferable because it maintains the idea of ​​intentionality and adds an external regulatory element for the retention of information: the punishment legally established in the case of revelation. Public secrecy is thus distinct from any information that is privately kept secret, which is nothing more than a voluntary retention of knowledge reinforced by the indifference of others.

In this somewhat paradoxical sense, secrets are a form of public regulation of information flows.

There are at least five categories of information regulated by public secrecy:

1) National defense;

2) Foreign policy;

3) Legal proceedings;

4) Intellectual property and patients;

5) Privacy of citizens.