I’m Austrian though and hence have a deep distrust of any bureaucracy that records “everything” and generally works too well.
I think it’s a fallacy that these systems can’t / won’t ever be exploited on a larger scale (pretty large already telling from the article..)
Unfortunately part of the problem is that different types of people experience these systems very differently. I'm unremarkable and unlikely to attract the interest of the authorities by association either so most of the ongoing problems you do see in the news don't tend to affect me or those close to me. I remember how one similarly unremarkable person I know was shocked and quite upset when they were challenged by a huge scary-looking guy to show some kind of ticket while travelling in London even though they had one and hadn't done anything wrong. And then I wonder how often a mid-teens black kid living on the estate 25 metres overhead has been "profiled" by the Met and what their experience of being challenged by authority must feel like.
Until we fix the glaring inequalities in our society there will always be big problems lurking underneath sadly.