That's very much not my point, which is rather that the proximate cause of the result here was secrets being exposed.
Of course, if secrets aren't kept in the first place, they can't be exposed, and lots of time, while not risk free, a timely voluntary disclosure can produce a lot better results than a involuntary revelation (and involuntary revelations happen a lot more often than people trying to keep secrets think they will.)
There are, additionally, moral issues to consider. Concealing facts material to other people's decisions denies them effective consent, a basic fact which underlies fraud laws, but whose moral scope extends far beyond commercial transactions.
If you fuck up and no one knows about it shut up and don't make your family go through it. It's your guilt, be an adult and live with it.
'conscious clearing' is childish and selfish.