All things being equal, the US government is simultaneously (1) the single most legitimate non-medical third party that needs to access my personal data, and (2) the single best entity to hold my data in terms of personal recourse. That's not saying much, but it is better than the open scorn and disrespect for my privacy that corporations offer.
The solution to government breaches is what it's always been: to make the breached data less valuable. Hacking the IRS would be significantly less appealing if we criminalized corporate use of SSNs as credentials.
That’s the slow way, but sure. I was referring to the fact that the government does occasionally react to negative press and roll back plans, as is evidenced by this case. I’ve yet to see Equifax change its security policies based on negative press.
Personal data sold to model and modify behavior. It's even more valuable to gov agencies, which spend spend drastically more than the private sector to get it.
The solution to government breaches is what it's always been: to make the breached data less valuable. Hacking the IRS would be significantly less appealing if we criminalized corporate use of SSNs as credentials.