Ombudsman criticises government over DigiD security

National ombudsman Alex Brenninkmeijer has added his voice to mounting criticism of the government’s secure inlog system for private citizens, known as the DigiD.


Last week a group of IT experts said the system, which people use to log in to government websites, pay tax and claim child and housing benefit, is too vulnerable to hacking and fraud.
A number of cases of DigiD fraud involving millions of euros are said to have come to light in recent months.
Government officials have denied the claims.
‘If the government was a bank, it would have gone bankrupt by now,’ the ombudsman said in an interview in the AD. ‘People do become the victims of DigiD fraud. I know, because I get complaints about it.’
The government is wrong to emphasise that individuals have to make sure nothing goes wrong when they ask for a DigiD, he said. ‘The complaints we get show it is a system with poor security and people who understand cybercrime find it easy to commit fraud.’

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