The government is currently not allowed to share data between government agencies to automatically award citizens income schemes. So writes outgoing Interior Minister Judith Uitermark in a letter to the House of Representatives. The reason: the law now does not provide a clear and sufficient legal basis for this.
In October 2024, the House of Representatives - through a motion by MP Palmen - asked the Cabinet to investigate whether there is a general legal provision that allows for the sharing of citizens' data between governments, so that citizens can automatically receive income schemes to which they are entitled. For example, an allowance or benefit, without them having to ask for it themselves first.
Two existing articles of law were mentioned as a possible basis:
Article 20 of the Constitution - which states that the government provides subsistence security.
Article 2:1 of the General Administrative Law Act (Awb) - on the duty of administrative bodies to assist citizens in contacting the government.
But the minister now says: these articles are too vague and do not provide clear rules on how, with whom and for what purpose data may be shared.
The sharing of personal data is strictly regulated by the Privacy Act (AVG). It is allowed only if strict conditions are met, such as:
There must be a clear legal basis.
That basis must specify exactly what data will be shared, between whom, and for what purpose.
The data may only be used for a public purpose and must be necessary and limited.
Moreover, in principle, a government agency may use data only for its own tasks, not simply for another agency's.
The minister agrees with the desire to better help citizens by automatically granting income rights, for example. She therefore says she is working with the State Secretary for Legal Protection to investigate a new general legal basis for this kind of data sharing. This is also in line with advice from the State Commission on the Rule of Law.
The idea is to arrive at a more people-oriented government, which actively points people to schemes or even pre-fills applications, if the information to do so is already available - with proper safeguards and consent, of course.
The study is still in progress. A new letter with further proposals will follow later this year.
