Our government outsources our privacy too now?

I am incensed about the failure of our government to protect our privacy. They say they want to make use safer. Now we found out that the State Department has outside contractors with access to private information. Employees of these contractors have viewed the passport files of Senators Obama, Clinton and McCain. in breach of the Privacy Act of 1974.

Section b) Conditions of disclosure states:

"No agency shall disclose any record which is contained in a system of records by any means of communication to any person, or to another agency, except pursuant to a written request by, or with the prior written consent of, the individual to whom the record pertains, unless disclosure of the record would be:
(1) to those officers and employees of the agency which maintains the record who have a need for the record in the performance of their duties;"
etc.

If I asked the government to see the Senator's passports under the Freedom of Information Act I would be denied because those are private files and I have no business looking into them. And that is how it should be. Who knew that we are now also outsourcing the government?

Where these private contractors snooping just for fun? Or where they hired by a ring of identity thieves? Let's consider the possibility of political gain. What if they steal passport, SSN, and other private info then register a credit card in the name of one of these candidates and make a reservation with the Emperors Club VIP then leak it to the press?

How many thousands of passports have these people been looking into? Yours? Mine? WHat if they are gathering all sorts of private info for the purpose of identity theft? (See: FAQ: The passport breach: What exactly is in those records?).

Secretary Rice has apologized to the candidates. Will she go on a press conference on national TV and apologize to the American public for this breach? I doubt it will happen. An internal investigation has been started by the State Department. What about the Attorney General getting involved? He should do so and prosecute these people, and their employers, to the full extent of the law. Congress should also get into the act. Congressman Henry Waxman has already asked for the names of the companies and persons involved. If our government does not protect our privacy, who does?