Special insights can act as a key competitive advantage. Trade secrets provide companies a framework to understand those insights, and to protect them from competitors and public disclosure. At the same time, trade secrets can be used to hide secrets that might benefit the public - failed workplace diversification efforts, unexpected side effects, the fact that a system is nowhere as sophisticated as it may appear. Understanding trade secrets help us understand how society balances the need to know with the need to withhold.
This article develops a principal-agent test for determining when algorithmic decision-making should trigger disclosure obligations even when concerns about gaming or trade secrecy exist.
