Intelligence officers as well as other in national security and law enforcement professionals often have the highest levels of security clearance and vast repositories of sensitive / classified information. What restricts their ability to go in and look up whatever they want is the need to know principle - That is that we should only be accessing information that is relevant to our work. It appears from the leaks in the US that the individual may have accessed information he did not need to know and this principle was not enforced. Good information security not only reinforced this principle but also actively monitors and holds individuals accountable for breaches.