The Dutch senate has passed a controversial new tapping law, allowing secret services to collect information on a much larger scale.

Although concerns were raised about ‘mass surveillance’ when the law was debated and passed by Dutch MPs in February, all parties had agreed 2002 legislation needed to be updated in the light of the digital revolution.

The NOS reports that there has been more resistance amongst social organisation such as groups representing civil rights, the courts, journalists and the council of state, the Netherland’s highest civil court.

It reports on Wednesday that the new law means that the AIVD secret service and its military relative, the MIVD, can tap internet traffic on a much wider scale, instead of (as now) only individual internet connections.

People who are connections of those suspected of dodgy dealing can also be hacked, in order to reach these targets.

David Korteweg, from Bits of Freedom, said: ‘I think that people cannot yet estimate the consequences of this.’

Other critics say that a monitoring committee, checking whether these powers are being used properly, may not have enough teeth.