Citizens vs Plasterk

In the People v. Plasterk case, a coalition of citizens and organizations (including Privacy First) is demanding that the Dutch secret services AIVD and MIVD stop receiving and using illegally collected foreign intelligence on Dutch citizens, for example through the American NSA's infamous PRISM program.

Wooden court gavel

Already since 2013, Privacy First, together with other organizations and citizens, has been conducting the 'People vs. (Minister) Plasterk' lawsuit. The reason for this case against the Dutch government were the revelations of Edward Snowden about the practices of (foreign) intelligence services, including the American NSA and British GCHQ. Our coalition demands that the government stops using foreign intelligence not obtained in accordance with Dutch law. Our lawyers at Bureau Brandeis are pursuing this case pro bono. The affiliated organizations are Privacy First, the Dutch Association of Criminal Lawyers (NVSA), the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ) and Internet Society Netherlands. After disappointing judgments from both the District Court and the Court of Appeal of The Hague, unfortunately the Supreme Court also dismissed the case in 2018. In doing so, the Supreme Court has since then provided a license for Dutch secret services to continue collecting large amounts of data on Dutch citizens without any legal protection through foreign intelligence services. Our lawyers have therefore continued this case in early 2019 at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, in parallel with similar British and Swedish court cases. Despite the delays subsequently caused by the Corona crisis, Privacy First hopes that the Court will soon reach a critical verdict.