Digitalisation impacts public values and fundamental rights. Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), immersive technologies, and neurotechnology offer numerous opportunities to enhance people’s lives. AI can support doctors in making accurate diagnoses. Augmented reality (AR) glasses offer construction workers better information about hazardous situations on site. Neural implants can, in some cases, make it easier for Parkinson’s patients to move.
It is crucial to realise the potential benefits of these technologies. However, there are also risks associated with deploying technology. Often, their use involves an extensive collection of personal data, which poses risks to individuals’ privacy. Techniques can also be designed to manipulate people into taking actions, such as making purchases or staying longer on an app. The deployment of a technology can have unintended side effects, such as the spread of misinformation.
Safeguarding values and rights
The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK) works with other stakeholders (such as scientists, civil society, and local governments) to safeguard public values and fundamental rights. This is done by researching the opportunities and risks of digitalisation, developing legislation and policy, promoting Dutch positions internationally, and engaging with citizens.
Research
Research is the foundation of policy. This includes research commissioned by BZK as well as third-party research. For example:
- Tech studies: explorations of the impact of new technologies on human rights, such as the Techscans Immersive Technologies | Rathenau Institute and Generative AI | Rathenau Institute on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.
- Public polls: research into how citizens view public values and digitalisation, such as the study by the University of Amsterdam in 2023 (Do We Really Care? Public Values and Digital Technology in the Netherlands – SPUI25).
- Research on specific impacts of technology, such as on well-being: on 3 April 2023, the Trimbos Institute, together with former State Secretary for Digitalisation Alexandra van Huffelen, launched the Expert Centre on Digitalisation and Well-being.
Legislation and policy
Fundamental rights are enshrined in the Dutch Constitution and international human rights treaties. When it comes to deploying technology, several other legal frameworks are also important, including:
- The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) contains extensive provisions for organisations regarding the collection, processing, storage, and management of personal data. The rules apply to all organisations that process the personal data of individuals in the European Union, regardless of whether they are based in the EU or outside it.
- The Digital Services Act (DSA) regulates the obligations of digital services, including digital platforms and marketplaces, that act as intermediaries connecting consumers with goods, services, and content.
- The AI Act, the world’s first AI law, contains rules governing the use of artificial intelligence in the EU. The regulation uses a risk-based approach – the greater the risks of an AI to fundamental rights, the stricter the requirements for the AI.
Additional policy
An additional policy is being developed on various themes, including children’s rights in the digital world. The policy aims to create tools to protect children’s rights in the digital environment, beyond legislation such as the GDPR, DSA, and the European Directive on Audiovisual Media Services. For example:
- The Code for Children’s Rights is a tool that helps developers embed children’s rights into the design of online services and products. The code provides design principles.
- The Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA) helps organisations develop online products or services for children to identify opportunities and risks, and mitigate them.
- Youth Council on Digitalisation: In 2023, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, in collaboration with UNICEF, established the Youth Council on Digitalisation. This council advises the State Secretary of BZK four times a year on the opportunities and risks associated with digitalisation for children and young people.
In addition, digital commons are promoted. These include open-source software and hardware, open data, open educational materials, and open standards. Digital public goods offer the government a means to promote alternatives and reduce its dependence on non-value-driven providers. They are part of the digital infrastructure that is not solely in the hands of market parties. Generating public value is central here. Values-driven alternatives are essential in a digitalising society, especially where private service providers fail to safeguard public values. Digital commons have a democratic and open nature, providing a structure in which public values, democratic decision-making, and (technological) sovereignty are central.
International
The rules for technologies are mainly determined in the international arena. That’s why it’s essential to promote and assert the Netherlands’ positions and policies in international forums. The Netherlands participates in the Council of Europe’s human rights and digitalisation committees, as well as in various working groups within the European Commission.
