Editing Secrecy (section)

==Corporations==
Organizations, ranging from multi-national for profit [[corporation]]s to nonprofit [[charities]], keep secrets for [https://www.ijaiem.org/volume2issue12/IJAIEM-2013-12-04-004.pdf competitive advantage], to meet legal requirements, or, in some cases, to conceal nefarious behavior. {{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}New products under development, unique manufacturing techniques, or simply lists of customers are types of information protected by [[trade secret]] laws.

Research on corporate secrecy has studied the factors supporting secret organizations.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Baker|first1=Wayne E.|last2=Faulkner|first2=Robert R.|date=1993|title=The Social Organization of Conspiracy: Illegal Networks in the Heavy Electrical Equipment Industry|journal=American Sociological Review|volume=58|issue=6|pages=837–860|doi=10.2307/2095954|jstor=2095954|issn=0003-1224}}</ref> In particular, scholars in economics and management have paid attention to the way firms participating in cartels work together to maintain secrecy and conceal their activities from antitrust authorities.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Faulkner|first1=Robert R.|last2=Cheney|first2=Eric R.|last3=Fisher|first3=Gene A.|last4=Baker|first4=Wayne E. |date=2003 |title=Crime by Committee: Conspirators and Company Men in the Illegal Electrical Industry Cartel, 1954–1959 |journal=Criminology |language=en |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=511–554 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.2003.tb00996.x|issn=1745-9125}}</ref> The diversity of the participants (in terms of age and size of the firms) influences their ability to coordinate to avoid being detected.

The [[patent]] system encourages inventors to publish information in exchange for a limited time [[monopoly]] on its use, though patent applications are initially secret. [[Secret society|Secret societies]] use secrecy as a way to attract members by creating a sense of importance.{{Citation needed|date=December 2008}}

[[Shell corporation|Shell companies]] may be used to launder money from criminal activity, to finance terrorism, or to evade taxes. Registers of [[beneficial ownership]] aim at fighting corporate secrecy in that sense.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Anonymous Shell Companies Finance Insurgents, Criminals, and Dictators|url=https://www.cfr.org/report/how-anonymous-shell-companies-finance-insurgents-criminals-and-dictators|access-date=2020-06-03|website=Council on Foreign Relations|language=en}}</ref>

Other laws ''require'' organizations to keep certain information secret, such as [[medical record]]s ([[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act|HIPAA]] in the U.S.), or [[financial report]]s that are under preparation (to limit [[insider trading]]). Europe has particularly strict laws about [[database]] privacy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Data protection in the EU|url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-protection-eu_en|access-date=2020-06-03|website=European Commission - European Commission|language=en}}</ref>