The municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg has made serious mistakes in a covert investigation into Islamic organizations. The Municipal Executive has formally apologized to the local mosque and various residents for violating their privacy. The municipality announced this after months of research by privacy experts.
NRC reported in October that at least ten Dutch municipalities, including Leidschendam-Voorburg, have commissioned a research agency to conduct a secret investigation into mosques in their city. The researchers did not identify themselves and wrote reports that were full of privacy-sensitive information.
Also read: Undercover to the mosque: secret investigation into Islamic organizations
That should not have been allowed, the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg now concludes. The college apologizes to the 35 citizens whose personal data has been processed in the report. “Residents must be able to trust that the municipality adheres to the privacy rules.” This mainly concerns mosque administrators and preachers, whose ‘religion’ and mutual relationships are described in the report.
It is not up to the municipality to collect such special personal data, writes the data protection officer, who monitors privacy within the municipality. Collecting such data can lead to stigmatization or discrimination. Leidschendam-Voorburg therefore acted “unlawfully”, is the conclusion.
Socially adapted behavior
Islamic organizations were deliberately not informed about the investigation, according to the evaluation of the municipality. Research agency NTA did not want that, because those involved would then show ‘socially adapted behaviour’. The researchers tried to learn more about the mosque and its visitors by hanging out and having “informal conversations.”
The privacy officer warned in advance of “serious privacy risks” associated with the covert investigation. But the urgent advice not to grant the order was ignored by the municipality, the data protection officer now writes in his report. The municipality now concludes that the entire decision-making process was not carried out carefully and that better guarantees are needed.
Utrecht
The municipality of Utrecht recently released a quote in which NTA had proposed to investigate mosques without informing those involved. The privacy officer ruled that there is no legal basis for this, after which Utrecht decided not to grant the assignment.
For the mosque Al-Tawheed in Leidschendam, the apologies from the municipality are not enough. “The apologies come very late and are mustard after the meal,” the mosque board wrote on Thursday morning in a statement. The mosque feels “spied on” and wants to go to court.
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