Category: Targeted surveillance

This grant supports a case by Netherlands-based activist, Frank van der Linde. The case involves an application to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to consider the legality of actions by Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency.

In 2019, Frank van der Linde discovered that the Dutch police had recorded his personal data in a terrorism watchlist and forwarded his profile to Europol. Mr. van der Linde requested access to the file, which was denied by Europol. He then filed a complaint to the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) in October 2020.

On 8 September 2022, the EDPS made a decision on van der Linde’s complaint. They ruled in his favour, ordering Europol to approve van der Linde’s access request to the data it holds on him, and finding that Europol had tried to delete van der Linde’s data to try to avoid complying with the original request. However, the EDPS suspended its decision on van der Linde’s case because the Court of Amsterdam has yet to decide on giving access to van der Linde’s data sent to Europol.

In national proceedings, the police in the Netherlands have been withholding information for years from access requests made by van der Linde, without adequate justification. The Court of Amsterdam decided in 2024 to appoint an independent expert to verify that no more information is being stored about him.

Van der Linde and Data Rights state that Europol’s position on the exercise of the right of access to van der Linde’s data has been to refuse access because the Dutch police would not allow it. In 2024, the Dutch police claimed that they could not disclose the data because Europol would not allow it. They produced a letter with the European police agency’s opinion on the case that went as far as to patronise the Court of Amsterdam, saying that they have been too “lenient” in giving access to the applicant’s data. The argument, having no standing in law, was swiftly disregarded by the Court. In February 2025, van der Linde complained to the European Ombudsman that Europol did not act in good faith when providing advice to the Dutch police.

Frank van der Linde believes there are aspects of Europol’s behaviour, shown in the EDPS ruling and in their correspondence with the Dutch police, that violate his rights, particularly related to his right of access and the duty of care. In June 2025, van der Linde formally asked for compensation from Europol for all damages, including immaterial damage, he suffered as a result of Europol’s actions. The letter also demands that the agency pay compensation for the five years he has spent seeking access to his file.

Between 2022 and 2024, Frank van der Linde was supported by Fair Trials. From 2024 onwards, Fair Trials had to step back from the project, and Data Rights took over project coordination.