As all of you probably know, the ‘Sleepwet’, which is a law that states that intelligence service are allowed to collect even more data than before, is a very controversial subject these days. The aim of this legislation is to combat terrorism. The petition about this law has already been signed by 300.000 civilians, which means that there will be a referendum next year.
The new legislation broadly expands the power of Dutch intelligence and security services. The main concern about this law is the fact that these services are now allowed to gather and intercept online communication and data from people who aren’t suspicious at all. On top of that, Dutch services may share collected data with foreign services as well. There is no obligation to investigate the potential harm and sensitivity of this data, and what the consequences of sharing could be. Several NGO’s posit that this violates human rights regarding privacy.
But as I mentioned before, the goal of this law is to track terrorist and criminals who communicate online. As prime minister Mark Rutte said; ‘It’s about catching the bastards who are responsible for the attacks’. The AIVD is not interested in the online activities of innocent people. Another interesting fact is that England has a similar that didn’t raise as much attention as the Sleepwet. A possible explanation for this could be the fact that England has been the target of several terroristic attacks already, while The Netherlands remained safe up to now.
Of course, these privacy concerns are correct in my opinion. Therefore, I support the petition about this law in the hope that it will be adjusted in a way that it takes away the privacy violations, whereas it still maintains the effectiveness to track potential terrorist and criminals. It is very hard to find the balance between privacy and protection.
Feel free to share your opinion on this topic.
References;
https://big.nl/deze-studenten-zijn-op-weg-naar-een-referendum-over-jouw-privacy/
https://www.nhc.nl/nhc-joins-call-referendum-dutch-law-intelligence-security-services/
https://tweakers.net/nieuws/130519/sleepwet-referendum-behaalt-vereiste-300000-handtekeningen.html
http://www.rtllatenight.nl/item/5387/rutte_wil_quot_klootzakken_die_aanslagen
Interesting topic, Ruben. I question whether the new law should me implemented as well. The new law will lead to a huge increase in data. If the government wants to accurately analyze all this data, it will lead to much higher costs. Furthermore, they state that the new law will enable them to track and catch terrorists. However, when a terrorist attack happens, the terrorist is already known to the authorities a lot of the times. They should focus on their current database instead of tracking the data of everyone in my opinion.
Interesting post, Ruben.
I personally feel like the whole Sleepwet-issue has been blown through the roof. I mean, it’s true that this will allow the Dutch intelligence agencies to collect data about you even if you’re not suspicious of any misdemeanor. But we should remember the goals this is trying to achieve.
You often hear about the perpetrators of terrorist activities, and how they were well-known by the police already. Then why didn’t anyone stop them from carrying out their attack? Because there’s no real sufficient evidence, that’s why. Granting more authority to the intelligence agencies could lead to the discovery of such evidence. And in what way do you think the information gathering could be harmful to you?
Thus, I also don’t feel anything for a referendum regarding the sleepwet. Although I don’t think any referendum is a good idea. But let’s not elaborate our thoughts on the use of referenda now, shall we.