SyRI anti-fraud system must be removed, government invades private life

NOS News•Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 10:56 •Updated Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 1:54 PM

SyRI anti-fraud system must be removed, government invades private life

The current legislation on the controversial government program System Risk Indication (SyRI) must be removed. This is not verifiable and does not respect the private lives of affected citizens enough, says the District Court of The Hague.

The law governing the use of SyRI, Structure, Implementation Organization for Work and Income, is in conflict with article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

“This is a timely victory for the legal protection of citizens in the Netherlands,” says Tijmen Wisman of the Platform for the Protection of Civil Rights, one of the parties that filed the case.

According to the UN Human Rights Rapporteur, who previously expressed highly critical talking about the system, the ruling will have international consequences. Philip Alston believes it is likely that activists in other countries will file similar cases.

“By applying universal human rights, this Dutch court sets a standard that can be applied by other courts in other places.”

SyRI links all kinds of data together and thus tries to prevent and combat fraud. Tackling fraud is important, says the judge, because it affects citizens' solidarity and support for the system.

But there is no “fair balance” between the social interest and the invasion of privacy, as required by the European Court of Human Rights.

Discriminating and stigmatizing

The legislation is insufficiently transparent and verifiable. How data is processed and analyzed is not transparent, says the court. This is important because otherwise “unintentionally discriminatory and/or stigmatizing effects will occur”.

The court believes that the state should use new technological opportunities to prevent and combat fraud, but must find the right balance between benefits and the right to respect for private life.

Ark's Secretary of State says the cabinet will study the ruling. “In any case, it is clear that it is not possible that way. The judge has made it clear that technology can play a role in combating fraud. We are therefore continuing to look at new ways to tackle fraud, but we will look more closely at the balance between fraud detection and privacy with new systems”.

Jeroen de Jager

@Geluidjager

Court finds SyRI (algorithm that checks citizens for fraud) uncontrollable; it's too big of an invasion of private life. The legislation on this matter must be removed.

10:31

February 5, 2020

SyRI is an initiative of the Ministry of Social Affairs. The system was used in Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Haarlem and Capelle aan den IJssel, but problems with implementation or technology threw a spanner in the works.

The lawsuit was filed by the Dutch Legal Committee for Human Rights (NJCM), Civil Rights Protection Platform, Privacy First and KDVP Foundation, or De Koepel. Columnist Maxim Februari and writer Tommy Wieringa, among others, were involved in the case.

Nieuwsuur previously spoke to people who are concerned about SyRI: