Several members of the Lower House have strongly criticized Aleid Wolfsen, the chairman of the board of the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens. They feel that he takes the privacy rules too strictly and thus gives the impression that he considers privacy more important than security. There are even calls for the chairman of the privacy watchdog's board to be replaced.
This is according to a tour by RTL News of several members of the House of Representatives (1).
The reason for the criticism is an opinion by the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens on the hanging of smart cameras with facial recognition technology in soccer stadiums. Lately, there has been a lot of trouble in the soccer world: soccer hooligans throw objects on the field during a match, cause destruction inside or outside the stadium, or racist chants are heard. To do something about this, the idea arose to install cameras with face recognition.
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens pointed out that this is not allowed under European privacy rules. After all, biometric data pose high privacy risks because they process special personal data and can be traced back to a specific person.
Cameras with facial recognition technology may only be hung if data subjects give their explicit consent, facial recognition technology is used for security and authentication purposes, or there is a "compelling public interest" where less drastic measures are ineffective, the regulator writes on its website.
"Incomprehensible," MP Rudmer Heerema (VVD) told RTL News. He thinks the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens is constantly obstructing when it comes to making the sports sector safer. "You see all kinds of things happening in the stadiums that are unsafe: fights, swearing and racism. And then facial recognition is not allowed. That doesn't make it safer," Heerema said.
Coalition member Bart van den Brink (CDA) is annoyed by the regulator's stance. He thinks the privacy watchdog should take more account of advances in technology to better protect our security.
Lilian Helder (PVV) believes the AP is being "too obstinate. "It is the opposite world. Privacy is not more important than crime. You have to use the cameras. They hang there for a reason. The AP should not lie for that," she told RTL News.
Heerema wants soccer clubs to be allowed to experiment with biometric data collection such as facial recognition technology and fingerprinting. He thinks this will give clubs more opportunities to visualize and identify hooligans. It would also make it easier to enforce stadium bans imposed by the courts.
The VVD member believes that the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens is making things unnecessarily difficult for the sports sector. He points to the fines the regulator handed out to VoetbalTV and the KNLTB. The former broadcast live footage of amateur matches without the consent of the (sometimes underage) players. The tennis association sold member data to sponsors without permission so they could offer targeted advertisements.
Because of these issues and opposing the plan to hang facial recognition cameras in soccer stadiums, Heerema believes the cabinet should seriously consider replacing AP board chairman Aleid Wolfsen. "We are not about the content of what the AP does, but the leadership of the AP is appointed by the minister. And if such a club repeatedly makes the wrong decisions, as a ministry you have to consider whether this is the right director for this organization."
https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/artikel/5391728/tweede-kamer-kritiek-autoriteit-persoonsgegevens-aleid-wolfsen-vvd-cda-pvv
