It only came to light as the woman bragged about it in front of others and even then the DWP only took it seriously when the entire affair became a police matter due to other actions the woman took. She was reported for other offences and ended up with details of the breach showing up witness statements, when the police contacted the DWP THEN they took it seriously

I know she was suspended – I have no idea what happened afer this

We don’t have to worry if at some distant point in the future, some theoretical totalitarian government comes to power in the future and gets their hands on this centralised behemoth of a database.

Instead, the BNP, criminals, corrupt civil servants or general nosey parkers can get jobs working for local authorities or the police, and get their hands on the data without the trouble of ever having to gain national influence.

But I’m sure that won’t happen, because Labour says there are stiff penalties for misuse. So thats ok.

Why was I not surprised that it happened?
Why am I not surprised that it is only being reported in the specialist/technical press?
Why will I not be surprised when a politician says that no sensitive information was accessed, and that no confidentiality was breached?
Why will I not be surprised when Alistair Campbell tries to bury the story, just like other bad news?

Why do I despair?