Experts critical of Temporary Cyber Operations Act

The Dutch Senate approved the Temporary Cyber Operation Act (Tijdelijke Wet Cyberoperaties ) on Tuesday. The new law will broaden the jurisdiction of the Dutch intelligence and security services, for example in the areas of interception and hacking. During the event 'Eyes Everywhere? Decoding State Digital Surveillance in The Netherlands' four experts discussed challenges around surveillance, privacy and security.

The Dutch Parliament (Tweede Kamer) approved the Temporary Cyber Operations Act last year. According to the ministry, the law is needed to make the oversight of Dutch intelligence and security services 'more dynamic'. This will allow the AIVD and MIVD to use their existing authorisations more effectively and rapidly against cyber threats, according to a press release from the Rijksoverheid. As a result, the services will be able to act more resiliently against the growing cyber aggression by autocratic regimes.

Threat

During the meeting at the House of Connections, the law was critically analysed by several cybersecurity experts. Gaby Perin-Gopie also joined the panel. She is the chair of the Volt party in the Senate and wanted to inform herself about the new law. Aitana Radu, lecturer and Security Research Coordinator at the University of Malta, kicked off the discussion. She previously worked as an intelligence officer in Romania. In her speech, she pointed to the international context: all intelligence and security services face similar issues. According to her, the situation in the Netherlands is anything but unique.

Radu also spoke about the increasing danger posed by cyber attacks from countries such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran. Evgeni Moyakine, associate professor of IT law at the University of Groningen, also highlighted the threat. According to him, however, it is extremely difficult to link the actions of private actors to regimes.

Fire truck

Although Bert Hubert, former member of the Toetsingscommissie Inzet Bevoegdheden (TIB), also agreed with the danger, he expressed strong reservations about the Temporary Cyber Operations Act. The Toetsingscommissie Inzet Bevoegdheden (TIB) is responsible for reviewing the legitimacy of the use of special authorisations by the AIVD and MIVD, such as interception or hacking. Because of the new law, Hubert submitted his resignation as oversight officer in 2022.

Hubert posed the question: how much infringement of our rights are we willing to accept? According to him, intelligence and security services claim there is a great need to expand powers. 'A fireman also asks for the biggest possible fire truck.' But the services fail to properly explain why they need an extension of their jurisdiction, Hubert argued. He also denounced the lack of political discussion on the new law.

More power, less oversight

Lotte Houwing, policy advisor at Bits of Freedom, was also critical of the law. In 2018, Dutch voters voted against the Intelligence and Security Services Act (Wet op de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten) in a referendum. The law eventually came into being, albeit with the necessary adjustments. According to Houwing, the debate on this is still not settled. Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that the security services want more power with less oversight, said the Bits of Freedom employee.

Moreover, the law shifts the form of oversight: from prior approval to more oversight during and after intelligence operations. Houwing and Hubert were critical of the role and capacity of oversight bodies, while Radu and Moyakine painted a more positive picture. All concluded that oversight only works in a democracy, which makes it vulnerable to a regime change.

The event at the House of Connections was organised by SSiGNAll: Surveillance Studies in Groningen Network for All in collaboration with the Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology and AI. On 5 March, the Senate debated the Temporary Cyber Operations Act. Gaby Perin-Gopie spoke on behalf of the Volt party.