Streisand Effect

The Streisand effect applies to an even more specific situation: when you unintentionally draw more attention to something when you try to hide it. It's named for entertainer Barbra Streisand, who sued a photographer and website in 2003 for displaying an aerial photo of her mansion, which she wanted to remain private. Before the suit, the image had been downloaded a total of six times from the site; after people saw news stories about the lawsuit, the site was visited hundreds of thousands of times, and now the photo is free to license and is on display on Wikipedia and many other places. As was said of Watergate, It's not the crime, it's the cover-up.