Privacy complaints to Dutch watchdog jump 75% in a year

The Dutch data protection authority Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) received more than 13,500 complaints and tips about possible privacy breaches in 2025, a rise of 75% on the year before.

Most complaints were regarding organisations involved that were not open about what personal data they hold, or refused to delete people’s data when asked, the watchdog said in its annual complaints report. Other complaints related to companies and public bodies that requested personal information without good reason.

The AP called it “especially worrying” when government organisations did this. People cannot opt out of dealing with the state, it said, and the government processes large amounts of sensitive data.

Healthcare generated the most complaints. More than half of those stemmed from the data breach at testing lab Clinical Diagnostics, which exposed the personal details of hundreds of thousands of women who had taken part in cervical cancer screening. The breach alone accounted for more than 400 complaints.

Complaints about doorbell and security cameras owned by private individuals also rose, from 370 in 2024 to 550 last year.

Chairman Aleid Wolfsen said the increase showed people were becoming more aware of their privacy rights and knew how to reach the AP. He said it was concerning that many organisations responded poorly when people tried to use those rights, such as the legal right to see or delete their own data.

The AP stepped in on about a third of complaints, usually by explaining the rules to an organisation or helping to resolve the issue, and carried out 29 deeper investigations into Dutch organisations.