November 23, 2010 9:49AM 

# Secrecy or Privacy? The Power of Language 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

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My friend Kelly Young notes ([on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=108251679243904&id=527722340&notif_t=share_comment#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=178112318871687&id=660672241&notif_t=share_reply)) this Washington Post [article](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/20/AR2010112002865_pf.html) on guns used in crimes:

> I am awed again by the power of language. The Washingt0n Post today claims that government protection of the identity of lawful purchasers of legal weapons is “secrecy” to be “penetrated” for the sake of the paper’s reporting. It is not “privacy” that is “violated,” as with release of airport scans of travelers, gathering names of minors seeking abortions, and warrantless searches of homes. And how about those secret journalistic sources?

(Language cleaned up slightly, as the original was typed Blackberry-style.) He’s right. The word “privacy” doesn’t appear in the article. Maybe a cynics’ dictionary would read, “Privacy is the ability to keep facts about myself hidden from you. Secrecy is your keeping facts about yourself hidden from me.”

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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