The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) has been taken to court along with 34 other agencies and organizations for a data breach during the corona pandemic. That writes the ANP news agency. The case was brought by the ICAM foundation. The other authorities charged are the national GGD GHOR, regional GGDs, security regions and the municipalities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
More than 133,000 people have joined the mass claim. However, the ICAM Foundation wants compensation of 500 euros per person for all possible 6.5 million victims of the data leak. It is certain that 1,250 people had their data stolen in the leak. ICAM wants 1,500 euros in compensation for this group. The total claim: more than 3 billion euros in compensation.
Earlier talks between the Ministry of VWS and ICAM came to nothing. An offer from the ministry to pay 500 euros per person for the 1,250 confirmed victims was rejected by the foundation. There was “very little sense of responsibility and respect towards citizens”, according to ICAM. “Certainly when it comes to databases of the government itself, which you do not access for pleasure.” The foundation therefore wants compensation for all possible victims.
The data breach was first written about in 2021 by RTL News. GGD employees are said to have sold address details, telephone numbers and even social security numbers of tested people on internet marketplaces, Telegram and Snapchat. These employees were arrested and later convicted, but according to the summons of the ICAM foundation, the authorities involved did not properly screen the employees, who were then given more access to the systems than necessary. There would also have been a lack of supervision.
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