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Considerati carried out a study on the impact of error and omission in the Municipal Personal Records Database (GBA) in the Netherlands. The study was carried out in collaboration with IDManagement Centre and was commissioned by the Netherlands' Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The authors show a range of financial, administrative and communal effects that can be related to the fact that citizens are registered in official records on faulty addresses or to the fact that they are not registered at all. The impact of such errors or omissions in the electronic personal records databases of the government is especially distressing in cases where legal rights or obligations are based on address or family circumstances. Obvious financial effects are seen in social security or fiscal regulation. (Van der Veen, Ruiter, Schermer, Van der Heide - 2013)

The first phase of the study has now been concluded, the report of this phase can be found here (only available in Dutch). The second phase of the study will be conducted in 2013, Considerati will stay involved in the project.  

Vint Cerf, founding father of the Internet, attended the IGF in Baku and was charmed by the fun and accessible method of capturing the interest of the youth for the subject of Internet governance. In preparation to the IGF, the ECP and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs annually organize the NLIGF. This event, of which the student NLIGF is also a part, is meant to organize the Dutch input. Bart Schermer, partner at Considerati, provided the students at this event with an introduction to Internet governance in the form of a cartoony leaflet, specially designed to explain the somewhat difficult subject.

Vint Cerf, upon being presented the leaflet, praised this creative approach. Conversing with Ton Wagemans, he also indicated his appreciation for the amount of effort expended by the Netherlands on preparing for a subject that is set to dominate future political agendas. According to Cerf; “We should assess regulations before they become effective. We should first test their effect on society and think thoroughly about them, because these issues will rise over and over again. Therefore it is most important we educate young people and politicians about this. The way you organize this in the Netherlands is a very good way.”

Recently, Facebook announced that it will be changing its privacy policy. Many users, however, are not aware of this. Does it matter? On 27 november, our expert Bart Schermer discussed the social network's policy on "NOS journaal op 3".

Click here to listen to the fragment

In the summer of 2011, a Dutch company was hacked by Iranian Internet users. This hack, often referred to as the DigiNotar-hack, was the beginning of a new age for cybercrime and cyber war and showed the entire world how real this threat is, and how disastrous the consequences can be. Still, many organizations have difficulties when it comes to how they can protect their own company against a similar situation, and how they can put this high on their company's agenda. In collaboration with the former director of DigiNotar, Tony de Bos, Considerati offers a workshop in which the DigiNitor-story will be thoroughly discussed. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions about the details and process of this case and how these can be applied to your own organization: what are the risks for your organization, what are the possible consequences and what can you do to prevent the DigiNotar scenario in your own organization?

This workshop will be held in-house, in the seclusion of your own organization, and the participants will have the opportunity to share in a unique experience. Hereby enriched, participant can apply their new knowledge to their own organization.

For more information or bookings, please send an e-mail to: wagemans@considerati.com

Our digital flyer can be found here

The 7th Internet Governance Forum took place in Baku, Azerbaijan from 5 to 9 November. Considerati attended this event and observed the developments as they happened. The UN organizes the Forum in order to facilitate a global consultation on Internet governance. For four days, stakeholders from all over the world such as NGO’s, governments, enterprises, academia, activists and the youth have intensively deliberated on such topics as Internet freedom and Internet regulation. The most popular subjects discussed were cybersecurity, copyrights, privacy, censorship/ freedom of expression, innovation and the roles played by the stakeholders with regard to these subjects. Speakers such as Neelie Kroes, Vint Cerf, Marietje Schaake and Jochem de Groot made attending the event even more worthwhile. For more information and reports, have a look at: http://www.intgovforum.org/cms/.

In conclusion we can safely say that the IGF offers a sound platform for the exchange of ideas and the observance of trends. More so than last year, it has become apparent that ‘Internet freedom’ as a subject is high on the agenda and that its significance has drastically increased in the mind of the public and among politicians. It has also become clear that we, as a society, will be facing great challenges in order to achieve global norms that do justice to varied and often seemingly opposed needs. Although this Forum does not provide rules and legislation, it does provide an important contribution to the emergence of ideas with regard to those matters. This is one the reasons why seeing the Netherlands represented by a respectable delegation is a wonderful thing. Due to proper preparation, the Dutch delegation was able to deliver a considerable contribution to the Forum. The delegation consisted of, among others, the ECP, the SIDN, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Rathenau Institute, AMS-IX and the KLPD.

Considerati was part of the Dutch delegation and, together with the ECP, organized the Dutch delegation stand.