Netherlands: Unchecked Power: ID Checks and Collection of Data from Peaceful Protesters in the Netherlands
States are increasingly imposing obstacles to the right to protest. In the Netherlands, authorities are turning to surveillance tools, collecting data from social media, deploying camera surveillance during protests, and knocking on activists’ doors with questions about their participation in protests. This report zooms in on the use of ID checks by the Dutch police as a surveillance tool. Through unlawful ID checks, the police process personal data from peaceful protesters in police databanks. This practice violates the right to privacy, has a chilling effect on the right to peaceful assembly and may have a discriminatory effect.