News

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The AIVD (Dutch Intelligence and Security Service) and MIVD (Military Intelligence and Security Service) are also investigating, as part of the implementation of the Temporary…

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Core Objective 24: "The student participates in the digital world" begins with: "The student uses digital systems, data, and protects the privacy of themselves and others in a…

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The Secretary of State has informed the Parliament that, following the IBTD reflection report, the Tax Authority is developing a GDPR-compliant reporting process, improving its…

report ⇄

The purpose of this study was to assess the public nature of personal data in thirteen specific public registers against European data protection law and to identify…

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The State Secretary informs the House that, following the IBTD reflection report, the Tax and Customs Administration is working on a GDPR-proof notification process, improved…

The BNC Sheet ⇄

Short: ⇄

Likewise, regarding the implementation test of the Temporary Act on Research by the AIVD and MIVD into countries with an offensive cyber program, bulk datasets, and other specific…

Briefly: ⇄

Core objective 24: 'The pupil participates in the digitized world.' begins with: "The pupil handles digital systems, data, and the privacy of themselves and others safely." Which…

Briefing on the Payment services framework ⇄

noyb WIN: YouTube ordered to honour user’s right of access

Data Subject Rights noyb has achieved a win against YouTube, the video platform provided by Google. After five and a half years, the Austrian data protection authority (DSB) has…

Fan Page Case Moves to the Next Round ⇄

Fan Page Case Moves to the Next Round

Court decides "Pay or Okay" on DerStandard.at is illegal

Cookie Banners The Austrian Federal Administrative Court (BVwG) has confirmed an earlier decision by the Austrian Data Protection Authority (DSB) that the Austrian newspaper…

noyb survey: only 7% of users want Meta to use their personal data for AI

Artificial Intelligence Meta has recently started using the personal data of Europeans for AI training. Contrary to its GDPR obligations, Meta hasn’t asked for consent in advance.…

Annual Report 2024 out now!

Almost 7 years after the GDPR came into force, noyb remains to be one of the leading European forces pushing for the fundamental right to data protection for all users. To date,…

noyb's Pay or Okay report: how companies make you pay for privacy

Forced Consent & Consent Bypass So-called ‘Pay or Okay’ systems are on the rise in Europe. First introduced by newspapers in Austria and Germany, Meta adopted the approach for…

Ruling in the Fanpages case has been issued: BfDI is considering further legal action ⇄

Ruling in the Fanpages case has been issued: BfDI is considering further legal action

How TikTok, AliExpress & WeChat ignore your GDPR rights

Data Subject Rights Today, noyb has filed GDPR complaints against AliExpress, TikTok and WeChat. All three tech companies have failed to comply with access requests under Article…

BfDI Launches Public Consultation on AI Models ⇄

BfDI Launches Public Consultation on AI Models

The price of free internet: Directions for future online tracking policies.

Report, Rathenau Institute, The cost of free internet: Directions for future online tracking policies.

Enforcement in public transportation.

Report: Enforcement in Public Transportation. Analysis of the legal framework regarding identification and data exchange. Also see the joint response from the Ministry of Justice…

Priority issues during the Danish presidency of the European Council.

Starting July 1st, Denmark will hold the presidency of the European Union. They plan to focus on digital simplification, including a revision of the Cybersecurity Act.…

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From public documents and conversations with employees of the Tax Authority in 2024, it became clear that reports regarding potential fraud by the SME (Small and Medium-sized…

A reassessment of the GDPR: lessons learned from the experience in the United Kingdom.

There is a growing movement for reforms in data protection. The European Commission is proposing specific changes to make compliance easier for small and medium-sized enterprises,…

TikTok and EU Regulation: Legal Challenges and Insights from Various Jurisdictions. ⇄

European Parliament (Think Tank), Information Brief: TikTok and EU Regulation: Legal Challenges and Insights from Various Jurisdictions (Written by Hendrik Mildebrath and Bente…

The price of free internet. Directions for future online tracking policy ⇄

Report, Rathenau Institute, The price of free internet.

Enforcement in Public Transport ⇄

Report, Enforcement in Public Transport. Analysis of the legal framework regarding identification and data exchange. See also the joint response from Iens and the Ministry of…

In brief: ⇄

Public documents and conversations with employees of the Tax and Customs Administration in 2024 revealed that reports of potential fraud by the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise…

GDPR and privacy organization at the Tax and Customs Administration ⇄

Government letter, GDPR and privacy organization at the Tax and Customs Administration. A letter regarding the current state of affairs.

TikTok and EU regulation: Legal challenges and cross-jurisdictional insights

Revisiting the GDPR: Lessons from the United Kingdom experience ⇄

There is momentum for data protection reform, with the European Commission proposing targeted amendments to facilitate compliance for small and medium-sized enterprises, and the…

Priority dossiers under the Danish EU Council Presidency ⇄

As of July 1, the Danes hold the EU Presidency. They intend to work on digital simplification, including the revision of the Cybersecurity Act. In addition, the Digital Networks…

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down additional procedural rules relating to the enforcement of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 ⇄

Progress on the file of the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down additional procedural rules relating to the enforcement of…

Bumble's AI icebreakers are mainly breaking EU law

Artificial Intelligence In December 2023, the dating platform Bumble introduced so-called AI Icebreakers to the “Bumble for Friends” section of the app. Powered by OpenAI’s…

European Transparency Network Established — BfDI Assumes Chairmanship of ENTRI ⇄

European Transparency Network Established — BfDI Assumes Chairmanship of ENTRI

Freedom of Information Under International Pressure – The Future of Freedom of Information Is Digital ⇄

Freedom of Information Under International Pressure—The Future of Freedom of Information Is Digital

G7 Data Protection Authorities' Roundtable Adopts Declaration on Promoting Innovation and Child Protection Through Data Protection ⇄

G7 Data Protection Authorities Roundtable Adopts Declaration on Promoting Innovation and Child Protection Through Data Protection

Motion of appreciation regarding the ban of TikTok.

"The motion is considered unnecessary by the government, as the legal protections it calls for are already in place." Specifically, the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).…

Status update on the Central Archive for Special Legal Proceedings (CABR).

The letter from the Dutch Parliament regarding the "Current Status of the Central Archive for Special Legal Proceedings (CABR)" (May 27, 2025), including the response from the…

Report from a written consultation regarding...

Normally, I rarely draw attention to reports from written consultations in the House of Representatives, but this report deserves special attention: "Report on a written…

Additional information following the debate on the law introducing the Citizen Service Number (BSN) and the digital government infrastructure (DIGG).

House of Representatives letter providing "Additional information following the debate on the law introducing the BSN [citizen service number] and digital government services for…

Amendment of the Law on DNA testing for convicted individuals and the Code of Criminal Procedure, concerning the introduction of precautionary collection of cell samples and several other amendments related to DNA testing.

A bill has been submitted to amend the Law on DNA testing for convicted individuals and the Code of Criminal Procedure, concerning the introduction of precautionary collection of…

Facilitating web harvesting.

Report: "Facilitating Web Harvesting," which covers the processes of "harvesting/crawling, acquiring, preserving, and making accessible (presenting via a reader terminal) the…

Answers to questions regarding the third evaluation of the Biometrics Act in the context of immigration procedures.

Letter from the Parliament, "Answers to questions regarding the third evaluation of the Biometrics Act in the context of immigration procedures" (May 14, 2025).

Answers to questions regarding the third evaluation of the Biometrics in the Aliens Chain Act ⇄

Letter to Parliament, 'Answers to questions regarding the third evaluation of the Biometrics in the Aliens Chain Act' (14 May 2025).

Amendment of the DNA Research (Convicted Persons) Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with the introduction of conservatory sampling of cellular material and several other amendments regarding DNA research ⇄

The amendment of the DNA Research (Convicted Persons) Act and the Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with the introduction of conservatory sampling of cellular material and…

Additional information following the debate on the Act on the introduction of the BSN and digital government facilities BES ⇄

Parliamentary letter 'Additional information following the debate on the Act on the introduction of the BSN and digital government facilities BES' (19 May 2025). Including an…

Report of a written consultation on ⇄

Normally, I rarely draw attention to reports of written consultations in the House of Representatives, but this report deserves special attention: 'Report of a written…

Status of the Central Archive for Special Jurisdiction (CABR) ⇄

The letter to Parliament concerning the 'Status of the Central Archive for Special Jurisdiction (CABR)' (27 May 2025), including the Response of the AP to the request for advice…

assessment of the motion to ban TikTok ⇄

stated; 'The motion is deemed redundant by the cabinet as the legal protection it calls for is already provided.' Namely, the GDPR.

Facilitating web harvesting ⇄

Report 'Facilitating web harvesting', or 'harvesting/crawling, acquiring, preserving and making accessible (presenting via a reading terminal) of the Dutch web domain, both in its…

WhatsApp is getting ads using personal data from Instagram and Facebook

Forced Consent & Consent Bypass Meta announced today that it also wants to introduce ads on WhatsApp, which will be based on personal data from Facebook and Instagram. This…

CRIF has a ‘score’ for almost everyone in Austria. noyb needs support for a potential class action lawsuit

Credit Scoring The credit agency CRIF collects personal data from millions of people in Austria and assesses their creditworthiness with a score between 250 and 700. For most…

BfDI Imposes Fines on Vodafone ⇄

BfDI Imposes Fines on Vodafone

Meta AI: German Court did not grant interim injunction. Final decision will be taken in main procedure. German DPAs issued urgency procedure.

Artificial Intelligence Today, a German Region Court in Cologne had to decide on an interim injunction against Meta. The German Consumer Rights Organisation "Verbraucherzentrale…

EU to make GDPR procedures unworkable

National Administrative Procedures and DPA inactivity The EU’s trilogue negotiations for a Procedural Regulation that should harmonise and accelerate enforcement of the General…

Berlin Group Presents Working Paper with Recommendations on Neurotechnologies ⇄

Berlin Group Presents Working Paper with Recommendations on Neurotechnologies

Tax Omnibus Bill 2026.

Document II 36735, number 3 (Tax Omnibus Bill 2026), see in particular paragraph 6, which contains the data protection provisions specifically related to the "Compensation for…

Second revised amendment proposed by members Claassen and De Korte, to replace item 34, regarding an opt-out option for the processing of patient medical data.

Chamber Documents II 36278, No. 37, (Amendment to the Act on Quality, Complaints, and Disputes in Healthcare, concerning the regulation of quality registration in healthcare and…

Law on Political Parties.

Chamber Documents II, 36742, No. 3. Rules concerning the financing of political parties and transparency regulations regarding their internal organization and finances, as well as…

related to the introduction of the electronic system.

Document II 36743, number 3 - Amendment to Book 8 of the Dutch Civil Code regarding the introduction of the electronic bill of lading. Section 3.6 discusses the implications of…

"They avoid taking initiative out of fear of making mistakes." (p. 2)

Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Social Domain Oversight: "Improved data processing and reporting within the social domain is essential. Looking back on the 2021-2024…

Digitalization update letter, May 2025.

Brief from the government, a digital transformation update for May 2025, containing a comprehensive overview of progress and commitments made by the Minister of Internal Affairs…

Government-wide position on the use of generative AI.

A government-wide position paper on the use of generative AI and a government-wide guidance document on generative AI were also recently published.

Final report on the implementation of the LAA (National Approach to Address Quality) assessment.

Final report on the implementation of the LAA (National Approach to Address Quality). Don't let the dull-sounding name deter you from taking a look at this report. Improving…

Revised strategy for the National Steering Group of Intervention Teams.

Brief from the government, May 19, 2025: The national steering group for intervention teams is being reorganized and will henceforth be known as the "National Collaboration…

Government-wide position on the deployment of generative AI ⇄

The Government-wide position on the deployment of generative AI and the Government-wide guideline for Generative AI have also been recently published.

Tax Omnibus Act 2026 ⇄

Parliamentary documents II 36735, no. 3 (Tax Omnibus Act 2026), see inter alia paragraph 6, which contains the data protection law section specifically concerning the 'Survivors'…

Political Parties Act ⇄

Parliamentary Papers II, 36742, no. 3. Rules concerning the financing of political parties and transparency rules regarding their internal organization and finances, as well as…

connection with the introduction of the electronic ⇄

Parliamentary Papers II 36743, no. 3 - Amendment of Book 8 of the Civil Code in connection with the introduction of the electronic bill of lading. Paragraph 3.6 discusses the…

hesitancy due to fear of making mistakes." (p. 2) ⇄

Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Social Domain Supervision, Collaboration and signaling within the social domain must improve, Review of Multi-Year Program 2021-2024.…

Evaluation Report on the Once-Only Principle Act ⇄

Evaluation report on the Once-Only Principle Act.

Final Report Implementation Test LAA (National Approach to Address Quality). ⇄

Final Report Implementation Test LAA (National Approach to Address Quality). Do not let the dull title be a reason not to examine the report. Part of the approach to improve…

Collective letter on digitalization May 2025 ⇄

Government letter, Collective letter on digitalization May 2025, containing a wide array of 'status updates' and commitments by the State Secretary for the Ministry of the…

Renewed course of the National Steering Group for Intervention Teams ⇄

noyb sends Meta 'cease and desist' letter over AI training. European Class Action as potential next step

Forced Consent & Consent Bypass Meta has announced it will use EU personal data from Instagram and Facebook users to train its new AI systems from 27 May onwards. Instead of…

Verbraucherzentrale NRW requests Meta to cease and desist AI training in the EU

Forced Consent & Consent Bypass On 14 April, Meta announced that it would use the personal data of European users for artificial intelligence (AI) training in the future. Starting…

Like to play alone? Ubisoft is still watching you!

Online & Mobile tracking Today, noyb filed a complaint against the French video game developer and publisher Ubisoft (known for Assassins Creed, Far Cry, Prince of Persia). The…

The discussion focuses on the challenges of scaling up (phase II/II).

Staffing expansion strategy presentation, for the information of the Ministry of Defence - see page 31 of the presentation "It is essential that the (interpretation) of the legal…

Law on the quality registration of healthcare services.

Amendment to the Act on Quality, Complaints, and Disputes in Healthcare, concerning the regulation of oversight of quality registrations in healthcare and the legal basis for…

Healthcare Quality Registrations Act ⇄

Amendment of the Healthcare Quality, Complaints and Disputes Act in connection with the regulation of control over quality registrations in healthcare and the legal grounds for…

Response to questions from member Koekkoek regarding digital locks in student housing ⇄

discussion is raised regarding the realization of scaling up (II/II) ⇄

Personnel scaling strategy presentation in connection with Defence - see p.

Here is the annual report ⇄

Would you like to know how many GDPR requests the Education Inspectorate received? In 2024, there were 15. See the annual report here (p.

Decision memo regarding Parliamentary letter on Data breach in published documents of the Central Government ⇄

EU pledged to improve GDPR cooperation - and made it worse

National Administrative Procedures and DPA inactivity As of 2018, the GDPR is supposed to ensure that Europeans enjoy privacy rights throughout the entire EU. However, when…

The BfDI Is Available to Coordinate Oversight ⇄

The BfDI is available to coordinate oversight efforts

BfDI Presents Its 33rd Annual Report ⇄

BfDI Presents Its 33rd Annual Report

Ministerial Steering Group on Business Climate, Regulatory Burden, and Feasibility.

Ministerial Steering Group on Business Climate, Regulatory Burden, and Feasibility. This group also considers the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). KPMG has also produced…

Monitoring of appropriate education in vocational secondary education. Measurement in 2024.

The report "Monitoring of Inclusive Education in Vocational Education - Measurement 2024" also provides several examples that demonstrate that teachers and institutions alike…

The competitive compass.

As previously announced in the "Competitive Compass" (page 12), it appears that, similar to another section of Omnibus III, the rules of the GDPR (General Data Protection…

Please note that this is not about opting out of the European Health Data Space (EHDS) itself, but rather about the opt-out mechanism that is provided for within the EHDS.

Concise government statement, opt-out from the European Health Data Space (EHDS) and other commitments. Please note that this is not an opt-out from the EHDS itself, but rather an…

Monitor tailored education MBO. 2024 Measurement ⇄

In the report "Monitor tailored education MBO. 2024 Measurement", several examples are provided showing that teachers among themselves, and institutions among themselves,…

Initiative memorandum from members Ceder and Six Dijkstra on online children's rights. ⇄

Parliamentary Papers II 2024–2025, 36 719, no. 2 Initiative memorandum from members Ceder and Six Dijkstra on online children's rights. Three specific proposals draw attention:…

Ministerial Steering Group on the Business Climate, Regulatory Burden, and Feasibility ⇄

Ministerial Steering Group on the Business Climate, Regulatory Burden, and Feasibility. This also takes into account the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). KPMG has also…

Please note, this does not concern an opt-out from the EHDS itself, but the opt-out provided for within the EHDS. ⇄

Government letter, EHDS opt-out and other commitments. Please note, this does not concern an opt-out from the EHDS itself, but the opt-out provided for within the EHDS.

the Competitive Compass ⇄

As already announced in the Competitive Compass (p. 12), it now appears that as part of Omnibus III, the GDPR rules for SMEs will also be simplified. Article 30 GDPR (the…

noyb takes Swedish tax authority to court for selling people’s personal data

Data Subject Rights In most countries, the government knows when you were born, your social security number, where you live, how much you earn and how much your house is worth.…

The BfDI Calls for More, Not Less, Freedom of Information and Transparency ⇄

The BfDI Calls for More—Not Less—Freedom of Information and Transparency

In short:

Soon, individuals may be able to receive a lump sum payment of up to 10% of their pension/retirement capital upon retirement, which will result in permanently lower future…

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Regarding the Data Protection Regulation, it should be noted that: "The Data Protection Authority (AP) is designated as the supervisory body for the section concerning the…

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Questions and answers from members of the BBB parliamentary group regarding the proposed expansion of the communication secrecy provisions in the Telecommunications Act to include…

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"Based on the information in the official's letter to your Chamber, the situation is that the official was to participate in an exercise that would take place in the data center…

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"In terms of information management (including digital accessibility, document transparency, and GDPR compliance), the staffing levels are a major bottleneck, and have not kept…

Law for the implementation of the Citizen Service Number (BSN) and provisions for a digital government in the Caribbean Netherlands (BES).

Parliamentary Documents II, 2024–2025, 36 639, No. 6. Amendment of various laws concerning the introduction of the citizen service number and the services of the digital…

In short:

For some time now, various issues have been identified in the (proactive) services provided by the government. While some of these issues have been addressed, many remain…

Short: ⇄

Questions and answers from members of the BBB group regarding the extension of the secrecy of communications in the Telecommunications Act to non-public networks and the…

Act on the introduction of the BSN and digital government facilities BES ⇄

Parliamentary documents II, 2024–2025, 36 639, no. 6. Amendment of various acts in connection with the introduction of the citizen service number and the facilities of the digital…

Briefly: ⇄

herein, brief mention is also made of data processing within educational institutions (p.

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regarding the Data Regulation, it is noted: "The AP is designated as the supervisory authority for the part concerning the requesting of data by government authorities in…

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Upon retirement, people will soon be able to have a maximum of 10% of their pension/annuity capital paid out as a lump sum, resulting in lower lifelong benefits. Nibud…

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"The case, as can be inferred from the official's letter to Your Chamber, is that they were to participate in an exercise taking place at the data center of the private company.…

Cabinet response on the validity of the EU-US privacy agreements and possible consequences for the migration of sensitive personal data to American services ⇄

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"Regarding information management (including digital accessibility, public disclosure of documents, GDPR legislation), staffing is the bottleneck, as it has not grown in tandem…