Dutch cabinet to push forward with data mining spy plans

The government plans to push through with its data mining plans that will give the intelligence services the capability to continuously spy on large amounts of internet traffic, the Volkskrant reports based on a still secret bill the paper has in its possession.

The bill also states that the intelligence services will have one major access point to the internet per year, from where they can drain information.

Since the government first presented this bill in 2015, there have been many complaints on the indiscriminate nature of the law from both the Board for the Protection of Human Rights and internet service providers like KPN, Tele2 and SME. This "indiscriminate nature" is still in the bill - instead of only targeted searches, the intelligence agencies will be allowed to store and search data unfocused.

Changes that were made to the bill include the establishment of a review committee and giving intelligence services regulator CTIVD a "binding opinion".

The government believes it necessary to give the intelligence agencies these capabilities in order to identify "cyber threats" and "terrorist threats" on time, according to the newspaper. The government also states that not having this law will put pressure on the cooperation with foreign services.

Erik Bais, owner of internet service provide A2B Internet, told the Volkskrant that this law is a "massive infringement" on the privacy of Dutch citizens. He compares the long periods of data mining to "stalking citizens".