The amended Municipal Debt Relief Act (Wgs) provides more clarity on what is and what is not allowed when processing personal data for (the guidance to) debt relief. Yet in practice there are still many questions. That is why the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens AP) has drawn up a guide with points for attention. Municipalities and aid providers must take these into account in order to comply with privacy legislation. The Wgs regulates that people with (imminent) problematic debts can approach municipalities for advice, debt mediation or a rehabilitation loan.

The AP has received several signals, complaints and questions about debt assistance in recent years. The problem is often that it is not clear what data the various parties may share with each other and under what conditions. And that, in practice, data are shared without a legal basis.Some of these ambiguities are addressed in the amendment to the Wgs, which came into force on January 1, 2021.
The Guide to the Municipal Debt Relief Act first provides a brief overview of the changes. Then the AP discusses points of interest for municipalities (including district teams) and professionals involved in implementation. Like the Wgs, the guide is based on the various phases of debt assistance (early identification, access to debt assistance, action plan and implementation of assistance).
There are also additional points of interest in the guide to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG). Such as outsourcing/mandating, professional secrecy and informing citizens. In addition to the Wgs manual, the AP has prepared a summary of the points of interest.
The amended Wgs has provided clarity on a number of points. Nevertheless, a number of important (legal) questions remain open for practice. Therefore, municipalities will have to draw up their own concrete guidelines for practice. For this they can use the frameworks and points of attention from the guide. Only when these tools are in place will it be possible to help people out of their problematic debts with respect for their privacy.
Download the Wgs Guide here.
Download the Summary focus points Wgs here.
