"[Trade secrets] are supposed to be protected under the Freedom of Information Act from being disclosed, but people make mistakes," said James Pooley, an attorney and trade secrets expert who has written several books on the topic. "If we have fewer people that are experienced in these agencies or just fewer people at all, or we have people running around inside them that don't have experience with these kinds of very, very sensitive issues, mistakes are much, much more likely to happen."

In one of his books, "Secrets: Managing Information Assets in the Age of Cyberespionage," Pooley tells the story of how the EPA inadvertently provided Monsanto's Roundup herbicide formula to an attorney who represented one of the company's competitors. The attorney informed the EPA of the disclosure and the secret of Monsanto's formula was maintained, Pooley said, but he cites it as a cautionary tale of "the severe consequences that could result" from a mistake.

"This is uncharted territory for people who have to share their secrets with the government," Pooley said. "I'm deeply worried."