# Visibility Asymmetry **Entity class:** Analytic condition **Domain:** Clandestine systems / evidence ## Definition **Visibility asymmetry** is the uneven public observability of a clandestine system. Training contracts, laws, institutional collaborations, released histories, union notices, and retired-practitioner accounts may be visible while active sourcing, identities, recruitment, deployment, and compartmented support remain intentionally hidden. The visible boundary constrains inference about the interior, but missing public evidence does not independently prove either presence or absence. ## Relationships - **methodological response:** [[wiki/Documentary-Structural Inference|Documentary-Structural Inference]]. - **operational causes:** [[wiki/Compartmentation|Compartmentation]], source protection, and cover. - **source:** [[research/The Producer Function in Intelligence Tradecraft and Dramaturgy|The Producer Function in Intelligence Tradecraft and Dramaturgy]].