Off with their heads!
If I had Carrollian "Queen of Hearts" drag in the right size, I'd have put it on before keying that.
Something I notice time and time again about these stories concerning official malfeasance relating to data: no one is held responsible. No one is jailed, no one is suspended without pay, no one is charged, no one forgoes any pensionable time, no one takes a hit of any kind. At the very least, the head of any public organization that missteps with data should be denied any bonus for the year.
Maybe the time has come for an internet-fueled mass expression of disgust at this nonsense, be it a careless hospital sending email or a police force ignoring FOI requests. Enough angry letters to newspapers and MPs and ministers and maybe, just maybe, something might change.
Or maybe, better yet, it's time to institute a citizens' database of public employees who have fallen down on the job: name them and shame them, starting with the people at the very top. Something like the CRB or the kiddy-fiddlers' database. Can even be based on hearsay and gossip: that's what the UK gov has done, no?