AP orders Minister of SZW to destroy Muslim data within two months
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), the Dutch data protection authority, has ordered the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) to destroy unlawfully collected personal data of members of Muslim communities within two months. The ministry collected this personal data between 2016 and 2019 through secret investigations into individuals, organisations and networks within Muslim communities in the Netherlands. This gives people another two months to see exactly what has been registered about them.
The Ministry of SZW conducted these investigations without the mosques and people investigated being informed. Aleid Wolfsen, chair of the AP: 'The collection of personal data in these investigations was illegal because it was done without a legal basis and the ministry was not open about it. Moreover, it was discriminatory because it mainly concerns people with an Islamic background. This damages people's trust in the government.'
On-site investigation
After this became known, the AP started an investigation on 26 September 2023. It turned out to concern 12 investigations that the Ministry of SZW had carried out in the period 2016-2019. The AP consulted a total of 3,000 documents such as reports, meeting reports, emails and notes. The exchange of personal data between ministries and other government agencies was also discussed.
The ministry used open sources (Internet, social media), interviews with other people and on-site 'field investigations'. The investigation agency hired by SZW visited certain mosques to 'gain insight into the informal infrastructure and to collect in-depth data'.
The documents consulted by the AP show that at least 31 people were specifically investigated. The reports on the investigations into these people contain personal data such as name, education, employer, position, behaviour, religious beliefs and ideas. In addition, hundreds of people are named in reports and other documents. Their names and relationship to the person under investigation are stated.
Access
On 20 September 2023, the AP reminded the Ministry of SZW of its obligation to personally and actively inform all citizens about whom it had illegally collected information. The ministry sent a letter to inform people about the possibility of submitting a request for access. The people whose data was determined by the Ministry of SZW to have been processed unlawfully received a letter of apology from the minister. The Minister of SZW also acknowledged the unlawful conduct on 27 September 2023 and apologised for this in the committee meeting on Civic Integration in the House of Representatives.
According to the ministry, the people involved have been approached, as far as possible, with information about the processing of their personal data. They were also given access to the collected personal data upon request, the ministry states. This means there is currently no reason for the AP to take further measures on the basis of the investigation.
Wolfsen: 'The lives of innocent people have been mapped out without their knowledge. Not by an intelligence service or the police, but by a ministry. This was wrong and discriminatory. The ministry has acknowledged this and that's a good first step. But that's not the end of the story. The ministry must destroy the illegally collected data in two months, so people still have the opportunity to see exactly what has been registered about them.'
