Dutch government could prevent American takeover of DigiD platform: tech experts

Caretaker Minister Vincent Karremans of Economic Affairs could ban the acquisition of Solvinity, the company that provides the platform for DigiD, by the American multinational Kyndryl, a group of tech experts told the Volkskrant after finally being granted access to information about the planned acquisition.

The group of tech experts wanted to know how the Kyndryl acquisition of Solvinity was assessed, as they saw two opportunities to prohibit it. The Undesirable Control of Telecommunications Parties Act lets the government stop an acquisition if it poses a threat to public interest. For example, if the new owner is under the influence of a country that may deliberately want to cause service outages. The Foreign Acquisitions Review Act (Vifo) allows the government to stop the purchase if the new owner poses a risk to national security.

Karremans initially refused to provide the information, but responded after the group demanded transparency in an objection on Friday. The assessment hasn’t yet begun, the Minister wrote. The government is still determining which legislation the acquisition will be assessed under.

According to the group of critics, consisting primarily of tech experts, the government can ban the acquisition using both of the aforementioned Acts. As an American company, Kyndryl poses a threat to public interest. Last year, United States president Donald Trump banned American companies from providing services to the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. “If the acquisition goes ahead, we would fall prey to American sanctions even more easily,” journalist Eric Smit told the Volkskrant on behalf of the group, the Firewal Foundation.

The United States also poses a risk to national security. DigiD, the national digital identification system used by Dutch citizens to access government services, is a fundamental service. Millions of Dutch use it every day to file their tax returns, communicate with their health insurance, book their doctors' appointments, among many other things.

Smit suspects the government is postponing the assessment due to societal pressure. “It’s quite a sensitive issue. It’s possible that civil servants don’t want to burden the caretaker Ministers with this. They’re waiting until the next Cabinet takes office in a few weeks.”

Firewall Foundation has asked the Ministry of Economic Affairs to assess Kyndryl’s acquisition of Solvinity under both the Undesirable Control of Telecommunications Parties Act and the Foreign Acquisitions Review Act. “We’re waiting four weeks for a response from the Minister,” Smit told the newspaper. If the foundation doesn’t get the desired response, it will take legal action. “Kyndryl has no chance, if you ask me. The whole of society is digging in its heels,” Smit said.