Dutch Municipalities Get Penalized for Monitoring of Muslim Communities

(MENAFN) The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) has imposed financial penalties totaling €250,000 ($295,000) on 10 municipalities after determining they breached privacy regulations by secretly carrying out investigations into Muslim communities. The disclosure was first reported by a broadcaster on Thursday.

These covert practices came to light in 2021, when it emerged that several local governments had quietly ordered research projects and compiled dossiers containing highly sensitive data about Muslim residents, all without informing those affected.

Authorities later found that the municipalities were not legally permitted to store such personal information. In some cases, the resulting reports were allegedly passed on to the police, the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV), as well as the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.

"The municipalities had no basis for having that information. The privacy of the affected people has been seriously violated. This has damaged trust in many municipalities," AP chair Aleid Wolfsen said.

According to the AP, acting on guidance from the NCTV, certain municipalities contracted external firms to gather different degrees of confidential details about local Islamic communities. This included information about mosque organizations and influential individuals within those communities.

The municipalities facing fines are Delft, Ede, Eindhoven, Haarlemmermeer, Hilversum, Huizen, Gooise Meren, Tilburg, Veenendaal, and Zoetermeer.

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