On 23 April 2020, the State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment informed the House of Representatives that she would not appeal the decision of the District Court of The Hague of 5 February 2020 on the System of Risk Indication (SyRI). The District Court ruled that SyRI is contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. According to the State Secretary, this decision was also based on the fact that SyRI was not efficient and effective in the fight against fraud and did not provide added value for the parties working with it.

This means that SyRI has been definitively stopped!

It is good that the State recognizes that the risk profiling system and its intrusion into the private lives of citizens was untenable. This is another important step for the protection of privacy in the Netherlands.

At the same time, the State Secretary repeatedly emphasizes that the use of data and new technologies in the social security domain is legitimate according to the District Court. In this respect, the District Court finds that the government has a special responsibility to adequately protect the privacy of its citizens. The State Secretary will therefore focus on the development of a new instrument. The PILP-NJCM and the coalition of civil society organisations with which we cooperate will closely follow these developments.