It's not obvious to me that I should trust the government more than a big corporation with a reputation to defend. If Google was found to be leaking credit card details, for example, it would at least cost them a ton of business (and maybe do much more harm than that). They have the wherewithal to avoid it. The incentives for long-term investment in security infrastructure are weaker in government.
> If Google was found to be leaking credit card details, for example, it would at least cost them a ton of business
Would it? I can't think of a single case where this has actually happened. It's great in theory and all, but it is far from reality.
The biggest data breaches over the past century have been with giant companies that are still known today. Yahoo, Marriott, Adult Friend Finder, eBay, Equifax, Heartland Payment Systems, Target, TJX, Uber, JP Morgan Chase, the US OPM, Sony's PSN network, Anthem, RSA, Home Depot and Adobe are all still in business, and for some of them, the lack of repercussions have been staggering (looking at you, Equifax).
Granted, not all are credit card breaches specifically, but several are, and in all cases a lot of personally identifiable information was stolen.
It's not obvious to me that I should trust the government more than a big corporation with a reputation to defend. If Google was found to be leaking credit card details, for example, it would at least cost them a ton of business (and maybe do much more harm than that). They have the wherewithal to avoid it. The incentives for long-term investment in security infrastructure are weaker in government.