Today, I posted 33 letters to several Dutch organizations, all with the same request: ‘What do you know about me?’ I’m really interested in what is known about me in the corporate world, even without being a high-profile person.

The idea to do this came to my mind while attending several law related courses as part of my minor Law. There’s a Dutch law (called the ‘Wet Bescherming Persoonsgegevens‘ which is based on the EU directive 95/46/EG, so there’s a similar law in all other EU countries) that allows every natural person to ask any organization which personal data is being processed by that organization and why this is done.

The organizations I’ve contacted include: Albert Heijn (supermarket with bonus card), Antagonist (employer and webhosting company), ANWB (Dutch AA), Belastingdienst (tax authorities), BKR (credit registration), bol.com (webshop), Coolblue (webshop), Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (Dutch student administration), Google, Hi (previous telecom provider), Hyves (social networking website), ING (bank), NS (Dutch railways), Dutch police force, RDW (Dutch car administration), Thuisbezorgd.nl (food ordering website), T-Mobile (previous telecom provider), TNT (Dutch royal mail), Trans Link Systems (operator of the Dutch public transport card), Vodafone (telecom provider), several smaller associations I’m a member of, my primary and elementary school, my university and all municipalities I’ve lived in.

The organizations have four weeks to reply to the letter. I’ll keep you posted!