Overview
- An NOS investigation found that more than 100 Dutch municipalities have published documents that were not properly anonymized, sometimes including the citizen service number (BSN).
- The municipality of ’s‑Hertogenbosch said it identified three published documents with insufficient anonymization and removed them from its website immediately.
- Officials reprocessed the three files to anonymize the data correctly, informed the affected residents under breach procedures, and reported the case to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.
- The city has opened an internal investigation to check for other problematic publications and plans to introduce measures to prevent similar errors in the future.
- The BSN is a unique identifier that can directly identify people, so even a small number of leaks is sensitive; authorities note a national decline in such cases but say stronger checks and possible regulator follow‑up remain important to protect residents.