Dutch Intelligence Bill Sparks Concern Over Reduced Oversight

The Dutch government wants to give intelligence services more powers to quickly identify evident opponents, but experts are concerned about the planned reduction of prior oversight. "We see a trend since the 2017 law that the services are collecting data on an increasingly large scale while oversight is decreasing, says Lotte Houwing of Bits of Freedom, a foundation advocating for digital civil rights. "Citizens are increasingly ending up on the radar of the secret services with fewer safeguards.

And this while a recent report showed their data management is not in order. Bert Hubert, a former AIVD officer and supervisor, says there was no such strict regulator before 2017. "They actually want to go back to that time. He says the government has clearly seized on the spirit of the times.

"Everyone is concerned about the threat from the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians and the North Koreans. He sees this reflected in the communication. "The law was even renamed on Wednesday." Previously called the Intelligence and Security Services Act, the words 'protection of national security' have now been added.