Dutch women launch mass lawsuit over cervical cancer screening data breach

A new advocacy group, the Women's Rights Collective, is preparing a mass legal claim seeking compensation for women whose medical data was stolen in a cyberattack on the Dutch laboratory Clinical Diagnostics, while also expanding its legal action to include broader allegations of digital abuse affecting women.

The Women's Rights Collective says it will also help affected women determine what personal data was taken and assess the potential risks resulting from the breach.

The case centers on a hacking incident that occurred last year at Clinical Diagnostics, in which medical data belonging to hundreds of thousands of women participating in the national cervical cancer screening program was accessed and stolen. The group says the breach exposed highly sensitive patient information.

The Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) concluded last month that Clinical Diagnostics had not adequately secured sensitive patient data, prompting the legal initiative. The mass claim targets not only the laboratory but also the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport.

Public concern over participation in preventive health programs has increased since the incident. According to a survey by the Hart van Nederland Panel, more than one-third of people in the Netherlands now question whether they still want to take part in national screening programs.

Beyond the laboratory data breach case, the organization frames its legal effort as part of a wider fight for women’s rights in the digital space. It also says it is taking action against other forms of online abuse, including targeting the pornographic website Motherless, where the group says tens of thousands of videos were shared depicting women being sexually abused while asleep.