Wow! Obama's passport record was improperly accessed! Are people really surprised that some worker with access would try to sneak a peek?

Now we know that both Clinton's and McCain's files were accessed.

I am sure that every day, people working for the government are looking at personal data of other people without permission. This is the problem with human nature- people are curious creatures who often push limits to satisfy this curiosity.

Anyone who knows someone who works at a driver's license bureau will tell you that there are always people who try to look at people's records without permission. People who work at hospitals know people who look up medical records. People who work at insurance companies know people who have snooped through insurance records.

Anytime people have access to information there is a good chance that at least a small percentage of people will explore that information.

Historically, records were kept in boxes in storerooms that were out of the way and a hassle to access. Today, all sorts of private, confidential information is kept in digital format on computer systems that people can access while sitting at a desk. Good systems flag access but those flags need to be monitored regularly and followed up on and this takes far more time than the improper access.

Encryption is getting better but hackers are always ahead of the programmers- it is the nature of the beast.

Voters should note that passport data is fairly limited. Imagine health records in the hands of the government- all health records. Do people want their records accessible to the government? Is there really accountability in the system? They may fire a person here and a person there but overall, how can the system stop these breaches? It can't completely prevent these sorts of violations because there will always be people pushing the limits.

While any government employee should be disciplined for accessing information improperly, Obama and others should focus their outrage on real problems like the growing government creep that increasingly infringes on the individual's right to privacy and economic freedom.

Let us not be distracted from the big picture by a gnat in the corner.