Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002017/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Raquel García Hermida-Van Der Walle (Renew)
On 26 April 2025, Follow the Money reported that Dutch police databases contain large amounts of unlawful, inaccurate and outdated (biometric) data, collected and stored in insecure digital and physical locations over decades.[1] Despite numerous warnings from competent authorities (including the Personal Data Authority) and the Council of State[2], the Minister of Justice and Security has not yet ordered the removal of the data.[3] As large amounts of data are increasingly analysed automatically, this can lead to errors in investigations and to discrimination and stigmatisation of innocent people.
- 1.Is the Commission aware of these practices on the part of the Dutch police and of the fact that, despite warnings from competent authorities and experts, the data in question has not been removed?
- 2.Does the Commission share the concern that this situation raises the likelihood that, in the context of European police cooperation, one Member State’s police forces may use unlawful and inaccurate data taken from another Member State’s police database[4]?
- 3.What action will the Commission take vis-à-vis the Dutch Government if it fails to heed the warnings from the relevant authorities and have its police databases cleaned up, with a view to ensuring that Dutch police data can be used safely in the context of European police cooperation?
Submitted: 21.5.2025
- [1] https://www.ftm.nl/artikelen/politie-data-over-burgers-woo-stukken.
- [2] The Personal Data Authority concluded that the collection of personal data by the police is not in line with the Dutch law transposing Directive 2016/680 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data.
- [3] https://www.raadvanstate.nl/adviezen/@146778/w16-24-00313-ii/.
- [4] Prüm II Regulation; Directive on the exchange of information between the law enforcement authorities; Council Recommendation on operational law enforcement cooperation.