Schoof’s cabinet knew the risks and didn’t act. And Schoof himself was Director-General of AIVD (the national intelligence service) before becoming PM — so of all recent PMs, he’s the one who should’ve read this file correctly. He didn’t.

The Tweede Kamer (parliament) actually passed a motion against the contract extension. The cabinet overrode it. Then Jetten’s cabinet did the same thing again in May 2026.

It took one person with the right knowledge in the right seat to stop it — Staatssecretaris Aerdts, who literally has a PhD on oversight of the Dutch intelligence services.

But here’s the part that should make you angry: Van Oordt flagged this exact risk first. He got fired for it. The analysis that cost him his job is the same analysis Aerdts used to block the acquisition. He was just right too early, and from the wrong chair.

And he’s still being punished. Still in legal proceedings, still without the apology or reinstatement he’s owed.

So apparently the Dutch government’s policy is: do your job right as a CPO, get fired and dragged through court for it — and wait for someone with a minister’s title to be proven right on your behalf.

Imo, it’d be funnier if you picked Unix time. (1/1/1970 at 00:00).

Yeah they are.

This is a typical case of that the lawmakers have near 0 IT comprehension unfortunately.

It’s a step into into the right direction.

Doing something late is better than doing nothing at all.

Yes our data is already out there but at least we can make it illegal for them to collect more new data, it probably won’t stop them but it’s a start.