New law to give secret services broader tapping powers

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Dutch secret services will have broader tapping powers, after a majority of MPs voted on Wednesday to introduce a controversial law.

The Volkskrant reported that next Tuesday, the government Liberal VVD and Labour PvdA parties, the extreme-right PVV and Christian parties the CDA, CU and SGP are expected to pass the new law. They also have a majority in the Senate so the law is expected to be one of the last major reforms of the current Rutte government.

All parties agreed the digital revolution necessited the modernisation of the 2002 legislation. But not all agreed on the extent of the changes. Opposition parties and civil rights organisations have protested that the new law would involve ‘mass surveillance’ and infringe people’s privacy rights, despite home affairs minister Ronald Plasterk’s assertion that information gathering will be ‘proportionate’.

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