Restrictions on the distribution of confidential government information

The restriction of confidential government information to a closed circle of people can lead to unnecessary, wasteful and expensive duplication of research, or to corruption or espionage which is all the more difficult to detect because so few know the nature of the information being abused.

In 1943 the British Admiralty was using a newly discovered technique to increase the effectiveness of explosives, and the Ministry of Home Security knew of increased power. However, the secrecy surrounding the technique was so great that the Air Ministry was unaware of it and was thus using less effective explosives.