AutomationGids, 11 February 2015: 'If mass taps are allowed, we will take to court'

“If the Lower House agrees to mass interception of internet traffic, organisation Privacy First will immediately go to court. "We know how to do it, we have taken on the government a few times before," says chairman Bas Filippini.

Privacy First has previously won court cases against the central storage of fingerprints under the Passport Act and against license plate parking. The independent foundation sees in Minister Plasterk's current proposal to give intelligence agencies the power to continuously tap all communications of all citizens a good opportunity to have this tested by the courts against higher privacy law.

Incomprehensible

"It is incomprehensible that such a proposal is now in the Lower House," Filippini said. "With the Senate having previously seen nothing in such a proposal, with the European Court of Justice declaring telecom data retention obligations invalid last year and with the recent publication of a highly critical Council of Europe report on mass surveillance, Plasterk is coming up with a draconian law to allow the untargeted and continuous tapping of all internet traffic of all Dutch citizens."

Head in the sand

"Edward Snowden has taught us how governments handle this data, but Dutch politicians act as if court rulings and a year-long revelation are irrelevant. In this proposal, there is a reversal of how legislation should be created and privacy-invading technology is leading the way," Filippini said."

Source: http://www.automatiseringgids.nl/nieuws/2015/07/als-massale-taps-mogen-stappen-wij-naar-de-rechter, 11 February 2015.