Experts call for openness on DigiD sale to US tech company
In the media image: Adi Goldstein on Unsplash
Experts want full transparency on the proposed sale of the DigiD platform to a US company and warn of risks to digital sovereignty. Reijer Passchier, Professor of Digitalisation and the Democratic Rule of Law (OU) and Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law, comments in ‘de Volkskrant’.
In an urgent letter, the experts – including two Leiden constitutional law scholars Wim Voermans and Reijer Passchier – demand openness from the government about the assessment of the possible acquisition of Solvinity, supplier of the Dutch digital identity platform DigiD, by US tech company Kyndryl. They want to know how the government protects national security and digital sovereignty and fear that US laws could provide access to the sensitive data of Dutch citizens, which will further increase dependence on foreign tech giants. The action comes amid growing unrest in politics and society about the consequences for digital autonomy and national security.
Passchier takes a critical stance and says this is an emergency situation. 'Technology is a crowbar in a cynical international power game that is putting our sovereignty and the democratic rule of law at great risk.'
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Read the full article in de Volkskrant (in Dutch)