In the coming weeks, we will share our plans for the upcoming years with you. In the third item of this series, we will focus on our 'safety' program.

Recently, it was revealed that the Dutch Tax Authority had been using a risk analysis system for twenty years that violated privacy laws. The Risk Analysis Model (RAM) was disabled just before the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect, although parts of the information remained available to employees. After all, fraud needed to be combated.

As a reader of our English newsletter, you are probably not surprised by this. Over the past few years, the government has increasingly granted itself more power. This has taken the form of new authorities and technological means, as well as information. Government organizations are processing more and more data about citizens, allowing them to "better" distinguish, direct, and control them. While governments become more powerful and opaque behind spreadsheets and algorithms, citizens find themselves in a bind. That is why 'safety' is one of the four programs that Bits of Freedom will be working on over the next three years.

First and foremost, we want only social algorithms to be used in the social domain. The government must stop intentionally and unintentionally discriminating against people through data processing. We will conduct research on algorithms used by municipalities and campaign with citizens to urge municipalities to stop using unsafe algorithms. We want knowledge and outrage to lead to structural change.

Additionally, we want the government to stop suspecting and surveilling innocent citizens. We will shine as much light as possible on the work of intelligence and security services. We also seek attention for the politicization of their work. It cannot be the case that certain population groups, such as people of color, Dutch Muslims, and activists, are automatically considered suspicious.

Finally, we want social (welfare) organizations that directly support people—and thus know best what challenges they face—to have a say in the government’s data policy. Through action research, we will map out how the government’s data usage leads to problems with these organizations and create concrete plans to address them.

Are you curious about the rest of our new multi-year strategy? We will share our plans with you in the coming weeks. Or do you perhaps work in the social domain yourself? Let us know!

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