On July 4, a bill was introduced for consultation that grants two new powers to mayors. These allow the police, under their authority, to gather personal data from publicly accessible sources about the threat of a serious disturbance of public order. The purpose of the bill is for the mayor and the police to gain greater insight into serious disruptions of public order and, based on this, to be able to take more adequate measures to prevent, prevent or end them.
The reason for the bill is that serious disturbances of public order increasingly find their cause in the online domain, at least starting online. The information that is shared online is considered essential for the mayor and the police to properly perform their task of maintaining public order. For example, by addressing individuals about their online behavior, scaling up the deployment at a demonstration or issuing an emergency order or area ban by the mayor.
Under the current Article 3 Police Act, the police can already conduct online research in publicly accessible sources, but only to a limited extent. Online research under Section 3 of the Police Act is currently only possible as long as it involves no more than limited invasion of citizens' privacy. Any intrusion must in any case be limited to what is necessary. A more than limited intrusion means that a more or less complete picture is obtained of certain aspects of the private life of the person concerned.
Where exactly the scope of Article 3 of the Police Act 2012 ends is sometimes difficult to determine. Online data collection quickly leads to a more than limited invasion of personal privacy, because publicly accessible sources not only contain data of a factual nature, but also personal data about behavior, feelings, opinions, preferences and social contacts. In addition, information online is often found not only about a specific data subject, but also about his or her social or relational contacts such as friends and relatives. In principle, such information may not be collected. Thus, what the police are currently allowed to collect is limited and in some cases fragmented. For these reasons, an explicit legal basis is needed to allow the police to collect online data about a serious disturbance of public order. This bill attempts to provide a basis for this.
The scope of the bill is limited to publicly accessible resources. This should be understood to mean the public part of the Internet/online domain. Bill notes that the deep and dark web are also a publicly accessible resource: as such, it has no minimum level of security.
The bill should be set against the backdrop of the aftermath of the Ajax-Maccabi match in November 2024. In response, the minister indicated that a bill is being prepared to modernize the information position of the police in the field of public order. In a Parliamentary letter of May 14, 2024 containing the policy response to the analysis on legal powers in the event of online incited public order disturbances, it was already announced that no new legislation would follow for mayors to act against online incited public order disturbances, but that efforts would be made to expand police powers. Nevertheless, there is now a bill pending from the House of Representatives that would introduce a power in the Municipal Law that would allow the mayor to issue a removal order, to act against online incited disturbances.
The bill grants two new powers to the mayor in addition to Article 3 of the Police Act 2012:
Searching for and copying personal data from publicly available sources.
Tracking in publicly available sources individuals who are believed to have a substantial role in a serious disturbance and taking personal data as part of that process.
Pursuant to these powers, the mayor may, after being authorized to do so by the magistrate, order the police and the Royal Marechaussee to gather online relevant information about a serious disturbance of public order. This order can also be revoked if there is no longer a need to gather information.
The main difference between the two proposed powers is the manner in which the data on the serious disturbance are collected and the invasion of personal privacy that this involves. Search and acquisition may not target specific individuals or organizations. Tracking ideally involves investigation of a specific person.
The bill has far-reaching implications for the privacy of citizens. For this reason, the bill regulates some additional safeguards.
A prior independent review by the magistrate judge of the use of the mayor's proposed powers;
An appropriate regime for processing personal data collected through the exercise of those powers;
The obligation to destroy irrelevant or non-necessary data;
A limited retention period (maximum of six months);
Structural or general research is not allowed.
The bill is up for consultation until Sept. 12. The bill will then be submitted to the Council of State, after which it will be debated in the House of Representatives and then the Senate. The lawyers at AKD will keep you informed of developments regarding this bill.
