Privacy watchdog AP has warned that “ill-considered” algorithms that discriminate against citizens are still being widely used by government agencies.

The data protection authority said in its annual report for 2023 that “very little has changed” since a parliamentary inquiry found that algorithms played a key part in the childcare benefits scandal that brought down the Dutch government in 2021.

AP found that the tax office’s approach, including its use of algorithms to identify potential fraudsters, was “unlawful, discriminatory and contrary to privacy legislation.”

Algorithms and discrimination continue to make up the bulk of AP’s workload in 2023, chairman Aleid Wolfsen said. “The government’s hunger for data appears to have hardly been contained.”

The AP’s report cites several examples of government organisations using “ill-considered algorithms,” including the Education Executive Agency’s (DUO) use of an algorithm to detect fraud regarding student grants that it called “discriminatory in nature without any substantiation.”

It criticised benefits agency UWV for “illegally us[ing] algorithm[s] to detect fraud with unemployment benefits,” while the use of facial recognition by police has also come under scrutiny.

“This is most likely just the tip of the iceberg,” said Wolfsen.

Although he pointed out that algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) can also be useful, such as when it comes to streamlining government processes, he cautioned that “as a society, we must always be very alert to the risks of algorithms, including discrimination, so that government institutions do not destroy people’s lives again and uphold our rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights.”

Supervisory role

Since last year the independent AP has been given the task of coordinating the supervision of algorithms and AI, including over big tech companies.

It says that the government is increasingly hiring private investigation agencies to look into its own privacy violations—a task that is supposed to be carried out by AP.

“Sometimes such a private investigation is a step forward, sometimes it’s the result of the limited capacity of the AP,” says the report “But it often leads to …duplication of work, waste of taxpayers’ money and confusion about the correct assessment framework.”

It also raises concerns about private agencies gaining access to sensitive personal data during their investigations.

Wolfsen applauds the parliamentary inquiry committee’s recommendation to strengthen its ‘watchdog function’ and increase its annual budget.

“This extra budget would mean, among other things, that we can finally respond adequately to all complaints, conduct the necessary investigations into privacy violations, and that there is less need to ‘deviate’ from commissioned investigations,” he said.

“So that people in our country receive the protection they are entitled to – the right to the protection of personal data is a fundamental right for good reason.”