Ombudsman is dissatisfied with AP’s complaint handling

The Dutch National Ombudsman is still concerned about the handling of complaints at the Dutch Data Protection Authority. According to the Ombudsman, citizens still have to wait too long for the regulator to look into complaints. However, the AP would already take good steps.

The National Ombudsman registers this a letter to the Dutch Data Protection Authority. The Ombudsman finds it ‘very worrying’ that citizens have to wait a long time for a complaint to be dealt with by the AP. That waiting period is now said to have increased to months. The AP invests a lot of time and money in recruiting new complaints handlers and improving the related processes, but ‘the intentions are still in stark contrast to the practice’, according to the Ombudsman. There are no further sanctions for a decision by the institute. The Ombudsman wants to talk to the AP after the summer to discuss the matter.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority has been suffering from major backlogs in the number of complaints and reports from citizens for years. At the end of 2021, more than 10,000 complaints were still pending. However, the Ombudsman also has problems with the complaints handling procedure. At the end of last year, the institute wrote the report For a closed door. In it, the Ombudsman mentions several problems. For example, it would not be clear to citizens where they can go if they disagree with a decision of the supervisor about a complaint. For example, it was far from clear how or where they could lodge an objection. “Complaint handling at the AP seems to be mainly aimed at averting complaints and settling them as quickly as possible,” the Ombudsman wrote at the time.

The regulator has made several changes in response to the report. AP chairman Aleid Wolfsen said earlier this year in an interview with Tweakers that the regulator will now handle complaints submitted too late. Complaint handling also provides a better description of how citizens can lodge an objection.

In the new letter, the National Ombudsman acknowledges and praises the AP’s steps. “I see that the AP is working hard to improve its internal processes and working methods so that the citizen’s perspective is better safeguarded,” the Ombudsman writes. “It is good to read that the AP is following our recommendations. I see that the AP is busy improving its services to citizens.”