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In the Netherlands, everyone knows about BOB. "BOB" refers to the person who agrees to stay alcohol-free to drive friends or family home safely. It's the most successful government campaign ever, partly started by the police. For more than three decades, she has reminded us to show restraint.
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But restraint is exactly what the police struggles to show. With the Crime Anticipating System, CAS, she's turning innocent civilians into suspects. Her databases are filled with faces that don't belong there. She deploys facial recognition technology when she shouldn't. And while collecting all this data, none of her 36 most sensitive apps comply with Dutch privacy and information-security standards.
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And that's not all. Under the guise of innovation, she knowingly pushes beyond the limits of the permissible. Under the guise of security, she deliberately ignores data-retention limits and stores data indefinitely. And in the name of public order, she pays intimidating house visits to innocent citizens who merely attend a protest. Less than three weeks ago, we awarded the police the Big Brother Awards 2025 Audience Award for exactly this behaviour.
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Which brings us to this week. An investigation found that approximately 1,700 police officers accessed police databases to look up information about the violent death of Lisa from Abcoude - even though in many cases there was no clear operational reason to do so. That’s how the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security begins her letter to Parliament, informing lawmakers of yet another large-scale privacy violation by the police.
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In response, all 1,700 employees will be interviewed. The police also says she is "reviewing" her information-security and management.
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Whether this is truly an information-security problem still remains to be seen. It makes sense that officers can access case files. But did all 1,700 of them really need that access?
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While I’m curious to hear the answer, I’m also worried the question distracts from the real issue: the police consistently fail to show restraint. In their use of technology. In the collection of data. In storing it. And in accessing it.
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New legislation is on the way that will allow the police to monitor more of our online live and deploy even more technology against us. That legislation should, of course, be as narrowly limited as possible. But that only works if something changes in the day-to-day reality of police work.
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The police must cultivate a culture of clear limits. A culture of restraint.
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Maybe we can help them with that - with a campaign slogan.
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Got inspiration? Share your slogan with us!
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PS. A big shout out to our volunteers for translating the articles in this newsletter!
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Hooray! Freedom of choice for Instagram and Facebook users remains intact!
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Yesterday, the court ruled on Meta's appeal against an earlier ruling in a lawsuit brought by us. And the Court of Appeal ruled in our favor! This is good news for Facebook and Instagram users in the Netherlands: the freedom of choice they have been given over the information on their feed will remain intact.
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New research: the influence of Snapchat’s gamification features on young people
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Our new research paper into Snapchat's gamification elements shows that some of the respondents are experiencing negative effects. We will use the report to advise policy makers on guidelines on gamification.
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The Big Brother Awards: who won?
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Every year, we announce the biggest violators of our digital rights in the Netherlands at the Big Brother Awards. Of the five nominees, the winners of 2025 are... The Dutch National Police (public award) and the Dutch Tax Authority (expert award)!
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Privacy defenders win Felipe Rodriquez Awards
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There is also a positive award to win: the Felipe Rodriquez Award. This year there are three winners. What they all have in common is defending our privacy and internet freedom. Congratulations to BOOS, Bert Hubert, and The Rights Forum, Plant An Olive Tree and Pax!
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