NL uses a potentially biased algorithm for visa applications

Immigration at Schiphol Airport. Photo: Depositphotos.com

Investigation shows the Netherlands uses a secret and potentially illegal algorithm to score visa applicants. by NRC and the journalism collective Lighthouse Report.

The NRC also said Monday that the system is still in use, even though the foreign ministry’s privacy officer has recommended it be decommissioned.

Since 2015, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has used a profiling system to calculate risk scores for short-stay visa applicants applying to enter the Netherlands and the Schengen area.

According to Lighthouse and the NRC, the system profiles millions of visa applicants based on nationality, gender and age, and automatically puts those deemed “high-risk” into the “intensive track.” It could be moved and mean long delays or denials.

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“Families of Dutch citizens with immigrant backgrounds are being prevented in all sorts of ways by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from obtaining visas for short stays,” MP Kati Piri told the publication.

“It is very difficult to get visas from countries like Morocco and Suriname,” Piri said, despite the ministry’s claims about the efficiency of the system.

bias

The Netherlands has been accused several times of using biased algorithms, and earlier this year, data protection watchdog Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP) announced that the algorithm was part of a government program to prevent discrimination and exclusion. said it began monitoring the use of

of child allowance scandal The 2020 eruption is a good example. Between 2004 and his 2019, thousands of parents have been unfairly labeled scammers. Being a dual citizen is one indicator of potential fraud risk, and dual citizenship data was processed in an unlawful and discriminatory manner.

Another example is the government Fraud detection program SyRI The court found that they were violating human rights.