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The Dutch government has published draft proposals that would give its security services sweeping new powers to intercept internet traffic – powers that critics say would be “among the most far-reaching in the world”.
With a population of 17 million, the Netherlands is already the most heavily phone-tapped country in the world – with about 26,000 taps granted to the police and other agencies, excluding the security services, every year, according to figures from the Department of Justice.
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Sweeping surveillance powers planned by Dutch government
Everything you tell me will be recorded and sold back to your government...
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KPN says the proposals are in direct conflict with the right to communicate in privacy laid down in the constitution, while Swedish-owned Tele2 says that, in any case, the proposals will be “impossible” to implement.
Most worryingly in economic terms, the employers warn that global companies could leave the Netherlands because they will “lose their right to communicate online in confidence”.
The UK-based privacy watchdog, Privacy International, has warned that if the new rules go ahead as planned they will be “among the most far-reaching in the world” and will “set a poor example for countries without strong democratic traditions”.
“We would strongly urge the Dutch government “, Privacy International said, “not to expand surveillance beyond what is necessary and reasonable in a democratic society.”
The Dutch Human Rights Commission agrees, describing the proposals as “a major infringement of the right to privacy and secret communications”.
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