Cybersecurity Policy Report, Dutch Passport Database Seen Endangering Privacy, (Feb 3, 2023)
The Dutch data protection authority, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP), has expressed concerns about the Dutch government's plans to create a central database for passport data.
The AP press release explains that the database would hold information including fingerprints, signatures, and passport photos. The database represents major privacy risks that the AP suggests the government has not properly considered. With uncertainty remaining over who would be responsible for the security of the data, the AP advises that the plans be thoroughly amended or otherwise withdrawn.
Putting the passport photos and signatures of almost all Dutch people together, along with fingerprints of the people waiting for a passport, is a "goldmine" for cyber criminals according to the AP, which notes that the sensitive biometric data can be used to commit identity fraud or discriminate against people.
Such a central database, according to the AP, also creates a risk of non-criminal data leaks caused by human error and the possibility that the government could use the data in the future for purposes other than travel.
The government has not fully explained why the central storage is necessary, the AP said, and the government divides responsibility for the data in an unclear manner between the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations and Dutch municipalities. As such, the AP recommends that full responsibility for the data should be given to the Interior Ministry.
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