Dutch Online News: Social Affairs violated possible privacy legislation

Friday, October 3, 2014

Social Affairs violated possible privacy legislation – nrc.nl

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Photo ANP / Lex van Lieshout

Interior

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment may have broken the law by since 2008 without a legal basis to link databases and analyze to detect. tax and benefit fraud This was done with a program called Black Box.

Only last year, the operation of the program, which is now called Syria (System Risk Indicator) set out in legislation. The ministry spokesperson confirms that recent years “without legal basis” was “trained”, but stressed that the Data Protection oversaw this program.

The College contradicts States that she oversaw. It did, however in 2007 and 2010 investigated linking databases under the direction of Social Affairs. Both times found the College breach the Data Protection Act, and the government adjust its approach.

‘in violation of the law

According to the Leiden professor of law and the information Gerrit-Jan Zwenne “does it appear that the conduct of the ministry in recent years in conflict the law was. ” On the basis of the principle of legality, the government can only infringe fundamental rights such as creating privacy, says Zwenne, if she has an adequate and specific legal basis for doing so.

“The fact that there is only now before a law is made, does all suspect that lacked that basis. That suspicion has been reinforced when you see that the College twice observed irregularities. “

Professor Zwenne doubts whether the program because of” the absence of a robust legislation “, the judge would stay upright. According to him should not be data of innocent civilians without so widely collected or processed, certainly not without independent judicial or administrative review, which is lacking in the law.

“several projects per year ‘

How many people in their privacy have been hit by years of practice, is not clear. The Ministry talks about some projects per year, but has no view. But in a report of the College from 2010 mention is made of 25 projects with file association in 2008 and 2009, how many people were screened during these projects is not mentioned.