179

Netherlands: The government's privacy officer blocked a U.S. company from buying the cloud provider that runs Dutch digital identity. Now he is suspended. - [Petition] (actie.degoedezaak.org)

submitted 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by randomname@scribe.disroot.org to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Archived version

A month or so ago, the Netherlands reportedly blocked a US company from buying the cloud provider that runs Dutch digital identity (there is a post about it in this community here).

The more recent news is that the Chief Privacy Officer of the Dutch government, who was behind this initiative, is about to lose his job.

...

For more than four months, Pieter van Oordt warned internally about the risks of the takeover. When these warnings were ignored, he brought the issue to the media, the Dutch Parliament, and the Cabinet. He showed that Parliament had received incomplete and misleading information and revealed that vulnerabilities in digital infrastructure had been shared with a U.S. company. His actions forced the Ministry of Economic Affairs to block the takeover.

Instead of protection, Van Oordt faced retaliation. He was excluded from meetings, his salary increase was blocked, and his request for protection under the European Whistleblower Directive was rejected, despite an expert report confirming that he should have been protected. He has been suspended, and his dismissal is mentioned in a written notice from the Attorney General on 22 May 2026.

The dismissal has not yet been implemented.

...

Someone started a petition (not me), I post this here as you may want to sign it (and maybe spread the word).

The petition calls on the European Parliament and the European Commission to act:

Protect Pieter van Oordt from an unlawful dismissal.
Ensure he can continue his work safely within the public sector.
Place digital sovereignty of vital infrastructure high on the European agenda.
Hold the Dutch government and the responsible ministries accountable.

[To read the English version of the linked text, you need to scroll down. It's below the Dutch version.]

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] Tryenjer@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I'm not anti-European, quite the opposite. And one must recognize the problem before solving it.

Most current European governments maintain a tradition of subservience in their relations with the Americans, primarily because their leaders and members can thereby gain personal advantages. Anyone who goes against these interests must first be prepared for the reprisals they will inevitably face.

The guy did the right thing by reporting it, but there were ways to ensure better protection for himself beforehand.

[-] mholiv@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago

You’re describing old fashioned corruption. Not vassalage.

I do agree we should focus in corruption as one of many real issues. We shouldn’t muddy the waters by adding vassalage which just destroys any credibility such a movement would have.

[-] Tryenjer@lemmy.world 0 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It is different because it is more systemic than "normal" corruption. It is expected. It's on another level.

It is so widespread and old that it has become an informal rule, a tradition in this transatlantic relationship. And the end result can be described as nothing other than vassalage.

[-] mholiv@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Strong disagree. A vessel state would have given the U.S. Greenland, or accepted arbitrary tariffs, or allow US pink slime into the system.

What we see shows corruption not vassalage. It’s not just corruption with the benefits from the U.S. we see it to an equal level with Russia as well. We see it with private companies too.

European nations and the EU are independent nations and organizations. Not pawns on a chessboard like Cold War era Soviet theory might suggest.

Vassal states are just that. Vassals. Think vichy france or Manchukuo. Calling the EU or EU states vassals to the U.S. is just an insult to the suffering that happened under actual vassal states.

[-] a4ng3l@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

It’s only systemic in that a lot of individuals, sometime in position of power, are unfortunately easy to corrupt and put their interests first. But the system itself still has some resistance against the US dominance.

[-] Ftumch@lemmy.today 8 points 2 days ago

You're not wrong, but let's not oversimplify things. While US influence is very strong here, the government also isn't going to do anything that could cost them the next election. Similarly, the opinions of the EU and other European countries matter. And major European powers like Germany, France and Spain have been more willing than our own government to push back against US influence. The USA also hasn't been a great ally recently. So if public opinion or EU influences push back against this strongly enough, that could definitely make a difference.

I'm curious to see whether the Dutch news will pay any attention too this matter.

this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2026

179 points (100.0% liked)

Buy European

10544 readers

117 users here now

Overview:

The community to discuss buying European goods and services.

Matrix Chat of this community

Rules:

Be kind to each other, and argue in good faith. No direct insults nor disrespectful and condescending comments.
Do not use this community to promote Nationalism/Euronationalism. This community is for discussing European products/services and news related to that. For other topics the following might be of interest:
Include a disclaimer at the bottom of the post if you're affiliated with the recommendation.
No russian suggestions.

Feddit.uk's instance rules apply:

No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia or xenophobia.
No incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies.
No harassment, dogpiling or doxxing of other users.
Do not share intentionally false or misleading information.
Do not spam or abuse network features.
Alt accounts are permitted, but all accounts must list each other in their bios.
No generative AI content.

Useful Websites