A sample of data hugging excuses

Andrew Stott at OKCON 2011
The following sample gave us Andrew Stott (@DirDigEng) in his presentation at OKCON 2011 "Implementing an Open Data programme within government".

Sample of "data hugging" excuses:

1. It's held separately by n different organisations and we can't join it up
2. It will make people angry and scared without helping them
3. It is technically impossible
4. We do not own the data
5. The data is just too large to be published and used
6. Our website cannot hold files this large
7. We know the data is wrong
8. We know the data is wrong, and people will tell us when it's wrong
9. We know the data is wrong, and we will waste valuable resources inputting the corrections people send us
10. People will draw superficial conclusions from the data without understanding the wider picture
11. People will construct league tables from it
12. It will generate more Freedom of Information requests
13. It might be combined with other data to identify individuals/sensitive information
14. It will cost too much to put it into a standard format
15. Our IT suppliers will charge us a fortune to do an ad hoc extract