Sunday pleasure readings

What is science?
Science is broadly understood as collecting, analyzing, publishing, reanalyzing, critiquing, and reusing data.
source website : Open Science ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_science )


Definition of Transparency :

Transparency, as used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparency_(behavior))


        Transparency can be defined as successful two-way communication about public policy.  The institutional arrangements that make it possible reflect national culture, history and values.
However, transparency starts from a core set of measures that are so fundamental as to
be almost indistinguishable from governments’ basic legislative, administrative and
fiscal functions.  Core measures help to ensure that people who are affected by policies
know about them and can respond to them.  Guidelines for good transparency practices
have emerged in the fiscal and regulatory areas.  (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/45/22/2506884.pdf).


What is Plutocracy ? :
Plutocracy (from Ancient Greek ploutos, meaning "wealth", and kratos, meaning "power, rule") is rule by the wealthy, or powerprovided by wealth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutocracy

Examples

One modern, perhaps unique, formalised example of a plutocracy is the City of London.^[1] The City (not the whole of modern London but the area of the ancient city, which now mainly comprises the financial district) has a unique electoral system. Most of its voters are representatives of businesses and other bodies that occupy premises in the City. Its ancient wards have very unequal numbers of voters. The principal justification for the non-resident vote is that about 450,000 non-residents constitute the city's day-time population and use most of its services, far outnumbering the City's 9000 residents.^[1]

The municipalities of Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake Florida are both owned and governed by The Walt Disney Company, by state statutes. The only landowners are fully owned subsidiaries of Disney, and right-of-way for state and county roads, and the only residents are Disney employees.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutocracy )

What is Privacy ? :
Privacy (from Latin: privatus "separated from the rest, deprived of something, esp. office, participation in the government", from privo "to deprive") is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves and thereby reveal themselves selectively. The boundaries and content of what is considered private differ among cultures and individuals, but share basic common themes. Privacy is sometimes related to anonymity, the wish to remain unnoticed or unidentified in the public realm. When something is private to a person, it usually means there is something within them that is considered inherently special or personally sensitive. The degree to which private information is exposed therefore depends on how the public will receive this information, which differs between places and over time. Privacy partially intersects security, including for instance the concepts of appropriate use, as well as protection, of information. Privacy may also take the form of bodily integrity. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy#Privacy_law)

More reading on what is privacy (http://www.privacy.gov.au/aboutprivacy/what )

Disclosure of an undisclosed information about a person in the public domain constitutes a breach of privacy.






What is Secrecy ?

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 in Sociology : 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. Humans may also attempt to conceal aspects of their own self which they are not capable of incorporating psychologically into theirconscious being. 

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".

websource : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secrecy