> the word "transparent", in this context, means "easily perceived or detected"
This definition doesn't make much sense to me. Transparent objects are less easily perceived/detected than opaque objects. In technology, transparent proxies/compression/encryption are designed to have little/no impact on their contained data.
I think this word uses the assumption that between you and them is an object. If the object is transparent, you can see what they are doing. If it is not, and it is a cloak of some sort, you cannot see what they are doing.
My team often speaks of operating transparently, and by this we mean that management can easily see what we're doing and why. So think about the transparency if actions rather than some object.