Opponents of new Dutch legislation giving the security services vastly increased powers to intercept and monitor digital communications, have collected 179,000 signatures so far in their efforts to force a referendum on the issue.

In total, the campaign, launched earlier this year by students, needs to gather 300,000 signatures to force the government to organise a referendum on the plans.

‘The law changes the way we deal with innocent people,’ student Joran van Apeldoorn, told broadcaster NOS. ‘Innocent people will be tapped as well as suspects. We think the privacy implications are so enormous that the people should have the right to have their say.’

The controversial legislation, which is due to come into effect in 2018, has been slammed by privacy experts as a ‘big brother’s charter’.

Ministers say the new rules are needed to combat terrorism. Currently the secret service is allowed to tap individual internet connections but the law will give them powers to tap entire networks and hack private individuals in the hunt for information.

At the same time, a group of eight organisations are working together to force a court case against the legislation, claiming that it infringes basic human rights, NOS said.

Only Dutch nationals living in the Netherlands can take sign the petition calling for a referendum.

If a referendum is held, 30% of votes need to take part to ensure that the government takes note of the results. The referendum, used last year to force a vote on the EU’s treaty with Ukraine, is only advisory.