Dutch government moves ahead with national ID system despite US tech takeover fears
The District Court of The Hague has dismissed the claims of three citizens seeking to prevent the Dutch government from renewing its contract with Solvinity. But there’s still a sliver of hope for opponents.
The plaintiffs tried to prevent the government from renewing its agreement with Solvinity, the hosting company for DigiD, the Netherlands’ national ID system.
During the summary proceedings held last Wednesday, the prosecutors argued that the company would soon be acquired by Kyndryl, an American IT services provider. That would mean Solvinity’s activities fall under US law.
As a result, personal data of over 16 million DigiD users could end up in the hands of the US government, the plaintiffs argued. In their view, this violates the fundamental rights of Dutch citizens.
They also claimed that the acquisition could serve as a potential kill switch to disable communication with organizations like healthcare institutions, pension funds, the unemployment agency, and tax authorities.
Despite the plaintiffs’ concerns, the judge of the District Court of The Hague decided in favor of the Dutch State, allowing the renewal of the government’s contract with Solvinity. The court’s ruling on the matter will be published within two weeks, the court states.
In November 2025, Kyndryl announced its interest in acquiring Solvinity, the hosting company for DigiD, an application that allows Dutch authorities to verify someone’s identity online.
The news raised concerns with privacy experts, human interest groups, and politicians. Pieter van Oordt, the Central Privacy Officer (CPO) at Logius, the government agency responsible for managing DigiD, publicly expressed his concerns and was fired for doing so. He recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund a lawsuit against the Dutch State.
The House of Representatives also got involved and asked Eric van der Burg, Minister for Kingdom Relations and Effective Government, to pause the acquisition of Solvinity.
However, he said he couldn’t comply with the motion because he had already signed off on the deal to renew the government’s agreement with Solvinity in March. In addition, he said that it’s impossible to switch to another provider before August 2026 without incurring significant risks.
“Such a process is lengthy and requires a handover as well as careful preparation and execution,” Van der Burg stated.
For opponents of the acquisition, there’s one last straw: the Investment Assessment Office (BTI). The agency is currently investigating whether the proposed acquisition poses a risk to the Netherlands' national security. Based on the agency’s assessment, the Minister of Economic Affairs could prohibit the takeover.
It’s unclear when the investigation will be completed.
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