The IND has the wrong address. British citizens received letters from others

The Dutch Immigration Service IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst) twice violated the confidentiality of British citizens registered in the Netherlands by sending letters to the wrong address.

In late January, the IND wrote to all British citizens registered in the Netherlands about their post-Brexit residency rights. But in about 7 cases, the agency did not include the letters or numbers that denote the recipient's exact house number. The IND then decided to send a notification of the mistake to these 000 people and enclosed a copy of the original letter. However, in a number of cases, a privacy letter was sent to the wrong person, which, in turn, became another, more serious violation. At the moment, there are at least 7 known cases when people were sent a letter intended for someone else. The Migration Service helpline does not stop talking for a minute.

Amsterdam resident Stephen accidentally received a letter intended for someone in Wassenaar. “There is no similarity in last names or house numbers,” he comments. “It is extremely unusual for a data breach to be leaked by reporting a data breach.” The first mistake was quite minor, but this one is more serious. Details such as name, address and immigration status were disclosed.

Journalist Deborah Nichols-Lee is the only one in her family of four to receive a letter with the wrong address. “I didn’t notice the first leak, so I was surprised to receive this letter,” she said. “Ironically, this letter represented a much greater breach of confidentiality than the previous one, as my second letter was clearly sent to someone else, and I instead received a letter addressed to a British citizen in Utrecht. "I'm not angry or worried about the email mix-up, but I think the data leak suggests that the IND is overwhelmed by the problems created by Brexit." An IND spokesman said they were trying to figure out what happened. “We are currently looking into the claims, their cause and the extent of what happened,” he says. On Twitter, the agency invites people who received a letter with the wrong address to return it to the addressee at the expense of the migration service.

No one is immune from error, however, such important organizations as the IND need to be doubly careful. Especially when it comes to personal data.