Government to Investigate Archiving of .nl Domain Through Web Crawlers

By Netvora Tech News

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The Dutch government has commissioned a study to explore the archiving of the .nl domain using web crawlers. The cabinet is expected to respond to the study's findings in the third quarter of this year. The study was prompted by a motion passed by the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, in December 2023. The motion called on the government to identify the legal, technical, and financial obstacles to archiving the .nl domain and to find ways to overcome them. The motion was put forth by D66-Kamerlid Dekker-Abdulaziz, who argued that the content of the internet today can be a valuable resource for researchers and cultural heritage in the future, just as it is in neighboring countries like France and Germany. However, the average webpage is only online for about 90 days before it is removed or updated. The study's report, titled "Nationale domeincrawl" (National Domain Crawl), was recently sent to the Tweede Kamer. The report concludes that policymakers must find a legal solution to the use of web crawlers that collect online content without conflicting with existing rights and interests. "The potential conflicting rights and interests are based on existing fundamental rights," the report states. "It's a clash between copyright, neighboring rights, and the sui generis database right, as well as the protection of personal data and fundamental rights such as the information and cultural heritage interest." The report notes that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) places significant obligations on heritage institutions when it comes to using web crawlers. "Although Article 85 of the GDPR provides some room for processing personal data for archiving purposes, there remain strict requirements to protect the privacy of individuals. Heritage institutions must make a careful weighing of their role in preserving digital cultural heritage and the protection of the fundamental right to privacy, as guaranteed in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights." The report also cites a warning from the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) against publicly disclosing the Central Archive for Special Court Proceedings (CABR). "This advice is important for the research into web harvesting, as it underscores that heritage institutions must base the processing of personal data on a clear legal basis that provides guarantees for the rights of individuals. The absence of such guarantees can lead to breaches of the GDPR." "Erasure of the Right to Privacy" Another point made by the researchers is that "web harvesting" can contribute to the erosion of the right to privacy. By permanently recording and publicly sharing personal and semi-public data that was originally intended for temporary or limited dissemination, the researchers argue that the boundaries between public and private are eroded. "The systematic and large-scale collection of data can lead to normalization of constant data surveillance, causing the fundamental right to privacy and the concept of privacy itself to gradually fade away," the report states. "The risk is that, in the long term, societal perception of what is considered private can change." In addition to issues like privacy, the study also looks at the feasibility and cost of the plan, including technical and personnel requirements. Minister Eppo Bruins of Education, Culture, and Science is expected to respond to the report's findings in the third quarter of this year.