Police store citizen data in violation of law: Professor Marc Schuilenburg warns of 'surveillance society'

In a recent article on the Dutch journalistic platform "Follow the Money", Marc Schuilenburg, Professor of Digital Surveillance at Erasmus School of Law, sharply criticises this method. He states that we no longer live in a surveillance state, but in a surveillance society, in which surveillance has deeply penetrated daily life. According to Schuilenburg, we are often not even aware of the extent to which our actions are recorded and analysed.

Need for revision of legislation

The police increasingly use automated analyses of large amounts of digital data, with the results of these analyses playing an important role in investigations and maintaining public order. However, the databases on which this method is based contain a lot of information that the police are no longer allowed to possess and the quality of which cannot be guaranteed. This leads to concerns about discrimination, stigmatisation and abuse.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority has expressed its concern about the discovery that the police are deliberately ignoring legislation. There is a need for a revision of the legislation to regulate access to old data, but only under the supervision of an independent authority.

Schuilenburg emphasises that society must remain critical of the use of technologies that can violate the privacy of citizens. He advocates more transparency and accountability in the use of digital surveillance by the police. Schuilenburg also stresses that the police should pay more attention to the quality of its data management with adequate checks and balances.