I wouldn't say they are doing a bad job spying on people for that reason; I think it's more likely that the reason they are spying is not to help children/people but rather to strengthen their control over the people. Knowledge is power and they want to be more powerful than everyone else. I've always assumed that the spying wasn't altruistic but more for selfish reasons.

This. All of this spying, not even being used for security ever, ie their goal might as well be general insecurity. It feels like their goal is the stability of the social layers, no or rare promotion, and maximum impermeability for the masses.