State Secretary Van Huffelen of Kingdom Relations and Digitalisation launched the website GegevensbijBesluiten.overheid.nl this week. Citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders can now see which data the government uses in decision-making processes.
Government organisations need data to provide quality services, but as a citizen or business, there’s limited visibility into the data exchange between various government agencies. It’s challenging to verify which data were used in making a decision, complicating the tracing of any potential errors. This changes with the launch of this website.
Values-driven Digitalisation
Having control over one’s digital life is one of the three core values in the Values-driven Digitalisation Work Agenda, the Cabinet’s policy agenda. Van Huffelen cites GegevensbijBesluiten.overheid.nl as an excellent example of boosting citizens’ position: “If you don’t know how the government makes decisions, you can’t have control.”
A spectrum of decisions
What data does a municipality use to issue a voter’s pass? What information does the Screening Authority (in Dutch, Justis) need for a Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG)? Or the Tax and Customs Administration for child benefit? The variety of decisions on GegevensbijBesluiten.overheid.nl is vast and will continue to grow throughout the year.
Next steps
Currently, 101 decisions have been published. By the end of 2024, there will be 600. By the end of 2026, it will be clear which specific personal data have been used for the top 25 government decisions. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to simplify how government organisations operate, with services increasingly offered proactively.
GegevensbijBesluiten.overheid.nl is part of the Data Control (in Dutch, Control of Data or RoG) programme from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), supported by ICTU.
