Tajni podaci: nuznost i (ili) informativna diskriminacija?
In: Politicka misao, Volume 34, Issue 3, p. 179-197
The central question in addressing the subject of confidential information is to define the borderline between citizens' "right to know" & the general interest of keeping certain information confidential -- in a word, between justifiable & unjustifiable secrets. This area includes parts of administrative & public media law & the theory of public law. The paper is limited to the analysis of the issue of classified information in state possession (state, military, & official secrets) on three levels: theoretical, comparative, & that of legislation in Croatia. The essential elements of the theoretical concept of confidentiality are the possession of the information kept secret from others; deliberate concealment; & social context. A secret can have different forms: strategic, private, pressing, sequential, collective, petty, deep, simple, exploited, & conspiratorial, as in a plot. The theoretical analysis of confidentiality deals with the questions of contemporary forms of the manipulation of information (defining agendas & priorities, "quantitative overload," lobbying) & with the generic issue of the process of decision making, lies, & half-truths. In closing, the author offers certain elements for legislation regarding classified information. 13 References. Adapted from the source document.