The government recently announced that, before the middle of 2011, it will be publishing a draft bill containing new personal data protection rules for consultation purposes. The proposed rules e.g. include a notification requirement regarding breaches of security for personal data, clarification of the requirement for businesses to provide information regarding set retention periods, a requirement to provide information as to what is done with personal data once a retention period has ended. In addition, specific transparency requirements will be included in the event that profiling is used. With the use of profiling businesses e.g. predict consumer behaviour and on the basis of presumed behaviour or interests customers can be approached.
To encourage the use of camera surveillance, businesses and
private individuals that record camera images for the purposes of
their own security can retain such images for four weeks without
prior notification to the Dutch Data Protection Authority
(College Bescherming Persoonsgegevens) being required,
instead of 24 hours.
The draft bill will also provide for wider powers on the part of
the Data Protection Authority to impose sanctions.
It is still unclear exactly how all the above will be set out in the draft bill.
To read the ministerial letter to the upper chamber of the Dutch parliament regarding the draft bill (in Dutch), please click here: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten-en-publicaties.
For more detailed information on the draft bill (in Dutch), please click here: http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/nieuws.
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