Netherlands Inspectorate of Education: Privacy Statement

The Netherlands Inspectorate of Education is committed to handling (sensitive) personal data responsibly. Read on to find out how we do that.

What does the Inspectorate do with your personal data?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires the Inspectorate to handle personal data with care.

The Netherlands Inspectorate of Education uses personal information only when we need it to fulfil our monitoring responsibilities. This is known as ‘purpose limitation’ and governed by law (GDPR Article 6). This means that it is necessary for us to process personal data in order to carry out specific tasks described in legislation and regulations, for example in the Education Inspection Act (WOT), and tasks that are in the common interest.

How does the Inspectorate obtain personal data?

When we are preparing for an investigation or carrying out monitoring, we ask schools and authorities to submit documents to us. We may also receive documents we have not specifically requested. We also process information you provide to us yourself, for instance when you ask a question – either over the phone or using the contact form – or subscribe to our newsletter.

The Inspectorate takes your personal data seriously

The Netherlands Inspectorate of Education takes the protection of your personal data very seriously, and we take appropriate measures to prevent your data being lost or used for inappropriate purposes. We handle personal information with great care, and we comply with the statutory storage periods when processing this data. If you feel that your data is not sufficiently secure, or if there are any signs that it has been used inappropriately, please contact us using the contact form.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we need it. For example, if you have filled in your name and address in order to receive one specific newsletter, we will not use that information to send you any other newsletters.

Your privacy rights

You can submit a request in any of the following situations, if you wish to:

  • know which personal data of yours the ministry is processing;
  • amend your personal data;
  • have your personal data deleted;
  • limit the processing of your personal data;
  • lodge an objection.

You can submit your request for access to this information by emailing loket@onderwijsinspectie.nl. We will respond to your request as soon as possible (within no longer than four weeks). You also have the option to submit a complaint to the national regulatory authority, the Dutch Data Protection Authority.

Data Protection Officer

The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science employs two Data Protection Officers. Their duties and authorizations are set out in the Regulations governing the regulatory authorizations of OCW data protection officers (Regeling toezichtsbevoegdheden functionarissen voor de gegevensbescherming OCW) (available in Dutch at wetten.nl).

  • OCW Data Protection Officer: Mr E.J.H.L Nijenhuis, fg@minocw.nl.
  • DUO Data Protection Officer: Mr A.A.M. Jean Pierre, fg@duo.nl