Abstract
On February 5, 2020, the District Court of the Hague in the Netherlands issued a judgment (currently only available in Dutch) that the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, has hailed as a "clear victory for all those who are justifiably concerned about the serious threats digital welfare systems pose for human rights." N.J.C.M. et al. v. The Netherlands involved a challenge to the use of a benefits fraud detection tool called "System Risk Indication" or SyRI, which Mr. Alston had criticized in an amicus curie brief for the Court as "pos[ing] significant potential threats to human rights, in particular for the poorest in society" (para. 38). The District Court of the Hague agreed, ordering that the use of SyRI be ceased because it violated international human rights norms. In particular, the Court's human rights evaluation focused on the right to respect for privacy in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (paras. 6.20-6.26) and the right to protection of personal data under EU law (paras. 6.27-6.36). The judgment can still be appealed.
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