The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens AP) has imposed a penalty payment order on the Municipality of Arnhem. This sanction follows the AP's finding that the municipality of Arnhem was processing residents' personal data on the underground waste containers via the waste card without this currently being necessary for its public law task.
Initially, in April of this year, the AP refrained from enforcement because the municipality planned to introduce a new system of waste charges (Diftar) as of January 1, 2018; as a result, the municipality would no longer be in violation of the law. Due to new developments at the municipality of Arnhem and the ruling by the Arnhem preliminary relief judge on July 13, the AP is now reversing this decision. The municipality of Arnhem recently announced that no final decision has yet been taken on the introduction of Diftar. As a result, the AP cannot conclude that the municipality of Arnhem will no longer be breaking the law in the short term.
The AP has ordered the municipality of Arnhem to cease and desist the violation. If the municipality of Arnhem fails to comply, the penalty could rise to €50,000.
The municipality of Arnhem has since indicated that it will open the waste containers and delete the personal data on the waste containers. To ensure that the municipality of Arnhem does the same and will not violate the law again, the AP is imposing an order for incremental penalty payments on the municipality.
Update July 2, 2018:
The Arnhem resident who had asked the AP to take enforcement action against the Municipality of Arnhem has appealed the AP's decision. On February 21, 2018, the court declared that appeal inadmissible. The court found that the request for enforcement action had been satisfied with the order imposed.
Update March 19, 2019:
The AP has lifted the order under penalty payment to the Municipality of Arnhem effective March 14, 2019. The Arnhem Municipal Board had asked the AP to do so in September 2018. The AP found that the Municipality of Arnhem has since implemented new software. No personal data is now stored on the waste container when using a waste card. As a result of this measure, Arnhem no longer violates privacy rules. This means that the municipality can close the waste containers. The municipality can now resume a system that allows waste containers to be opened by a waste pass.
