Any government practice that might facilitate the abuse of power should not be undertaken except in cases in which there is a compelling reason to do so  The keeping of government secrets is one such practice  Though government officials are sometimes justified in keeping secrets, too often they keep secrets for insubstantial reasons, and in so doing they wind up enabling abuses of power
When government officials conceal from the public the very fact that they are keeping a secret, this practice opens up even greater opportunity for abuse
Government officials should keep information secret only if doing so does not make it easier for those officials to abuse their power.