>'I can't think of many databases which can't export query results to CSV...' This is pretty much irrelevant as these requests are not going to end up in the h

>'I can't think of many databases which can't export query results to CSV...' This is pretty much irrelevant as these requests are not going to end up in the hands of a DBA, or anyone with anything approaching direct access to the databases in question. It's going to end up with someone who has an adversarial relationship with their own IT department as a 'maker of work'. Bureaucracy isn't something these agencies foist on the public, it just as bad if not worse inside. The request will go up and down through a series of managers, directors and deputies before being put on the schedule for a change control board meeting. In that meeting, a representative of the database administrators will explain that this request is not only complex, but potentially quite dangerous. He will point out that required data is actually completely accessible via a clunky mainframe interface wrapped in Java. Some plebe in the receiving office of the request will end up clicking through that Java interface and printing/exporting the requested data one page at a time. This process will repeat itself until such requests are a weekly if not daily occurrence at which point the plebe might be given a dedicated interface for exporting such requests. >'...or indeed many civil servants who are so completely inept with a computer that they couldn't redact information as (or more) easily in Excel than they could with a PDF.' I take it you've not met many civil servants then? In any case, the mechanics aren't really the issue. It's the game of hot potato behind the scenes and the eschewing of responsibility that takes place at all levels. I can virtually guarantee that even if all the stars aligned such that someone did obtain and redact a fully electronic copy of such data it would be rejected for release due to the 'unfamiliar' format. Someone in the chain would fear that they couldn't be sure of what they were releasing because it's not in the specific format they're used to.