Parliament tells Dutch gov't to keep DigiD data out of American hands

A parliamentary majority has asked the current caretaker and upcoming new Cabinet to do everything in their power to prevent Dutch DigiD data from ending up in the United States government’s hands. There are concerns that this could happen through the American firm Kyndryl’s impending acquisition of Solvinity, a company that is essential for DigiD access.

In a technical briefing in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, on Tuesday, MPs spoke with experts about the dangers and risks of this takeover. Parliament has long been concerned about this issue, and the briefing did nothing to alleviate those worries, NOS reported.

VVD parliamentarian Silvio Erkens is deeply concerned that the acquisition could “enable the U.S. government to access data” and use it to blackmail people. GroenLinks-PvdA MP Barbara Kathmann worries that this will get to a point where “Trump can shut down our digital government with the single push of a button.”

The cloud and infrastructure company Solvinity provides the infrastructure that transfers data for DigiD - the digital identification that every person in the Netherlands must have to exchange data with health insurers, pension funds, municipalities, and the Tax Authorities, among others. In the United States, the government has a lot of influence and power over American companies, including the ability to demand companies’ data.

The Tweede Kamer cannot force companies to abandon an acquisition, GroenLinks-PvdA MP Kathmann acknowledged. But she hopes that the current and upcoming government will do everything in its power to stop this. She suggested persuading Solvinity to reconsider the acquisition. The government IT service Logius could also switch to another company for its DigiD services, or the government can try its best to buy a “golden share,” which would give the Netherlands veto power in the company, Kathmann said.

Erkens believes that the deal must be blocked if there are no legal guarantees that Dutch data cannot be accessed in the U.S. And if the acquisition does go through, the Dutch government must ensure that Solvinity is no longer responsible for DigiD activities, the VVD MP said.

Digital security is also a topic on the table in the coalition negotiations. D66 leader and future Prime Minister Rob Jetten previously said that the new Cabinet will include a “Minister with very specific responsibility for digital security.” He could not yet say whether this Minister will have their own budget and more power than previous Cabinet members with digital security in their portfolio, but he stressed that the new Minister will be given “a clear mandate.”