Government databases are getting opened, and while I agree they ought to design some OLAP type system from the ground up, because of time and resources, I know some are opening OLTP ones up for read only (they think) access.

Corporate ones might not be open to the public, as in everyone, but some of them are opening data to customers or certain clients, which is public in a way. The same design principles should apply, and they certainly ought to consider the security and privacy implications.