Secrecy is one of the most ambiguous topics in the world. The following is an essay that I wrote about secrecy and if it's write or wrong. Please give me your opinions and help me edit my work. Thanks!!!

My essay - Secrecy

The issue of the appropriateness of secrecy has been debated multiple times throughout history. The fact of the matter is that secrecy can either be looked at as an attempt to harm others or and attempt to either aid oneself or aid another. Despite the few times that secrecy causes harm, secrets are typically kept for the well-being of others.
In, The Scarlet Letter, writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, expresses secrecy as a “necessary evil”. Although Hester Prynne’s secret about Pearl’s true father errodes Arthur Dimmesdale’s conscience, it saves Dimmesdale from public humiliation and shame. This allowed Dimmesdale to continue to deliver powerful messages to the townspeople without criticism. In addition, Hester was forced to wear a, self-esteem burning, scarlet letter “A” on her chest.
Another example of the importance of secrecy comes straight out of a common history book. During the period of the Holocaust, Jews attempted to keep there ethnicities a secret so they would not be captured. This type of secrecy saved thousands of lives. In the Jim Crow South, African Americans, such as Harriet Tubman secretly planned escaped routes and trips so that slaves could be free from bondage. For her courage and marvelous use of secrecy, Harriet Tubman is known is one of the greatest heroes of all time.
It is very possible that secrecy could be looked at as a negative. However, no point can erase the fact that secrecy can save friends, feelings and the greatest thing in the world; life itself. No small flaw that can be argued can overrule how secrecy has been used throughout history. Secrecy is always necessary.

You know something, the model of secrecy is reversed. The people are exposing all their information to companies who don't have to reveal anything to the people in return. It should be the companies that reveal every non-personal detail to the people, who in turn only need to expose minimal information such as name and home address. (A country that actually enforces this would rate 5.0 on Privacy International's index.)

In the US right now, almost every public place is surveilled, and even some private places. The situation is a little better in Canada, but it is slowly decaying.

I don't think people need to reveal everything they know to the government or any other organization, even if it is kept away in a database. This is because it creates a panopticon - you can't see the government or other people, but the government can see everyone, or at least their basic data and medical records. It's kind of like a "Big Brother" situation. Implementing anti-privacy standards won't reduce terrorism either - the terrorists most likely won't be registered.

Also, I don't like how every person is issued a number upon entering a country. It seems like you're treating the people like objects, giving them ID numbers and all that. I would much rather prefer having a unique name as my ID, as numbers tend to create an image of conformity and strict-ness.

On the Internet, however, people can choose to reveal as much or as little information as they want. This is okay. It won't prevent any abuse if everyone is required to release their ASL (age/sex/location) or N/ASL (name) on chat rooms.

Well, that's my $0.02.