The Lower House reacted with surprise to the existence of the Dutch police's face database, which contains millions of photos of people from outside the EU. The PvdA questions whether it is not discrimination that their photo, without their knowledge, is included in the database. The SP draws a connection to the Benefits Affair.
The groups' concerns were raised Tuesday during weekly question time.
Last week, RTL News reported that the police run a database where passport photos of expats, students and asylum seekers coming from outside the EU are recorded. When they apply for a residence permit or visa, they have to submit a photo. This ends up, without their knowledge, in the police face database. This contains a total of 8 million photos of at least 6.5 million people.
Not only are those whose photos are included in the database unaware of it. They are also innocent people who have not committed any crimes. In addition to the facial database, the police also maintain a second database. This contains 2.7 million photographs of over 1.2 million Dutch and foreigners who have actually committed a crime.
In a response, a spokesman said the police are very cautious about using the facial database. Last year, the database was accessed twice. Furthermore, the legal basis would be in place. Experts questioned this conclusion, arguing that the police are relying on a law that describes fingerprint searches. "Faces are really not the same as fingerprints. It is problematic that the ministry does see it that way," said Heleen Janssen, a lecturer in information law at the University of Amsterdam.
This prompted the Lower House to question Justice and Security Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius during question time. One of the critical MPs was Songül Mutluer (PvdA). "Isn't it discriminatory that basically innocent people are included in a police system just because they come from abroad?" she asked the minister. She also wonders whether the remedy is not disproportionate and whether it violates the law. The MP points out that legal experts and the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens have made critical comments.
Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius regrets that the perception has been created that data of innocent people is being stored unlawfully. She states that there is an article in the Aliens Act that requires people from outside the EU to provide a passport photo and fingerprints. That has nothing to do with the criminal justice chain.
The same law states that fingerprints may be provided to the police for the purpose of investigation and prosecution of crimes. This rule is also used in practice to justify the sharing of passport photographs. "Although this rule does not explicitly apply to the processing of facial images, I believe that the fact that we do include it, that we behave accordingly in practice, contributes to the protection of the fundamental rights of foreigners," the minister said.
Mutluer says she finds it strange that photos and fingerprints of foreigners can be shared with police if they have done nothing wrong. She points to a European Court of Justice ruling that police databases are only allowed if the law clearly and precisely defines it. The Aliens Act says nothing about photographs, so the PvdA member questions whether this is legally permissible. The minister reiterates that the police may only access these data if all conditions are met.
Renske Leijten (SP) sees similarities with the Benefits Affair. In that case, tens of thousands of Dutch citizens, often with dual nationality, were wrongly labeled as fraudsters. "In fact, the police looked into it very often. People were given very thick folders. We asked Parliamentary questions about that. There has been no answer as to why the police look in there and what they then do with that data. So whether it is clear that they are allowed, is not yet an answer to the question of whether you can then use that data for other work."
Leijten wants to know from Minister Yeşilgöz-Zegerius what bases there are for collecting passport photos and fingerprints, when agents are allowed to use this data, and what agreements have been made for this data to disappear. The MP is afraid that otherwise there will be another blacklist.
In her response, the minister refers to the Aliens Act and the Police Data Act (Wpg), which provide bases for processing and requesting data on aliens. She also emphasizes that there is a clear demarcation between CATCH Criminal Law and CATCH Aliens. The former consists of people - both Dutch nationals and people from outside the EU - who have committed a criminal offense. The other is a database of personal data of aliens.
CATCH Aliens is necessary, according to the minister, to give expats, exchange students and asylum seekers "normal rights. These include buying a car or accessing a facility. She further reiterates that there are high barriers for the police to access this database.
