Note the word "openly".

I know human nature and know that it happens covertly, no matter what the rules say. I was just saying why the rules are as they are.

Incidentally you may be amused that I very, very nearly wrote "depends on a myth" instead of "has a principle". :-)

Cheers,
Ben

First of all the use of the word was subtle, which is why I thought about the more explicit phrase. (Don't remember why I chose otherwise.)

But how does one openly engage in private conversations? Quite easily it turns out. If either of you blabs, it is now openly out there that you had a private conversation. Therefore reporters are a poor choice for a private conversation. Likewise you don't want to bring up anecdotes from your private conversations. And so on and so forth.

All of which comes down to the fact that if you are in the spotlight, then the trick comes with having your inevitable private conversations not be open.

I should note that what we are saying here goes just as well for every other profession with professional confidentiality. For instance priests, lawyers, therapists and doctors in practice routinely violate confidentiality to various extents. (And be honest, has anyone ever privately pushed the boundaries of an NDA with you?) Often maintaining the perception is more important in practice than maintaining the reality.

Cheers,
Ben