The municipality of Eindhoven is no longer under additional supervision by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP). The AP announced this this week in a letter to the municipality. Eindhoven has been working on better protection of personal data over the past two and a half years and now meets the requirements.
The municipality has been under increased supervision since March 2023. Eindhoven did not report data leaks or reported them too late and kept personal data of residents for too long. In October last year, the supervisor decided to extend supervision.
In the meantime, the municipality has made clear improvements. For example, data retention periods were tightened, procedures surrounding data leaks were improved and the position of the Data Protection Officer (FG) was strengthened. The privacy policy and the so-called DPIAs (studies into privacy risks when processing data) were also addressed.
‘Continuous process’
Councilor Mieke Verhees is pleased that things are now improving with the protection of personal data. “It is very nice that we now have a solid foundation and that the intensified supervision has ended. But it is a continuous process that we are never finished with.”
Municipal secretary Aline Zwierstra also sees that the organization has made great strides. “By updating our privacy policy and procedures, an internal awareness campaign, management and e-learning modules, we support the organization to deal properly with privacy and data protection. We will continue to do so. We notice that it is increasingly becoming a natural part of our work.”