Preventief politie in je chat? - Bert Hubert's writings
2 days ago
- The Dutch Minister of Justice proposes granting police preventive powers to monitor private chat groups, bypassing the need for concrete suspicions of crimes.
- Historically, police investigate after crimes, while intelligence services (AIVD) act on suspicions with strict secrecy and data protection safeguards.
- Previous police attempts to operate like intelligence services (e.g., TOOI, NCTV, CTER lists, IRT affair) have led to abuses and legal violations.
- The proposal lowers the threshold for police infiltration, which normally requires approval from multiple judicial authorities.
- The author argues that the AIVD, with its proper legal framework and safeguards, should handle such preventive monitoring instead.
- The minister's rejection of using AIVD is criticized, and the proposal is seen as part of a slippery slope toward pre-crime surveillance and merging police and intelligence roles.