Privacy Dutch Museum Card Holders at Risk

Image: Museumkaart 

The tax office is taking the Dutch museum association to court because it refuses to hand over details about a museum card holder’s visits.

The association is responsible for the popular museum card which entitles users to free or reduced price visits in hundreds of the country’s museums. Some 1.3 million people in the Netherlands have a museum card.

The tax office first asked for details of the card holder’s museum visits in March 2017 but the association says it has ‘repeatedly’ refused to hand over the information. ‘We will defend our card holders’ privacy to the highest European court if necessary,’ the organisation said.

Museumkaart

Not only is the tax office’s request an infringement of privacy rules, but using the card says nothing about who the owner actually is, the association said. Museum cards have only carried photos since 2017. ‘We want all card holders to feel free to discover museums in the Netherlands,’ the association said.

‘A card holder should be able to assume the information will be kept confidential and treated with the greatest of care.’