Headline, March 01 2022/ { 1 } : ''' '' DATA -NETHERLANDS- DASH '' '''

''' '' DATA -NETHERLANDS -

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NETHERLANDS PUTS A LEASH ON TECH GIANTS : Dutch privacy negotiators use European data law to drive major changes.

UNDERSTAND THIS : !WOW! IN NUMBERS : THE WORLD STUDENTS SOCIETY is the exclusive ownership of every student of the Netherlands.

The Students of Netherlands should '' Prepare for the Future '' and begin preparations to build and have their own Databases, totally overseen and managed by them under the European and Dutch Data Laws. 

! The Lessons of Data Protection ! : IN 2021, privacy consultants working for two Dutch Universities issued a critical report card on Goggle's education apps, a set of classroom tools like Google Docs that are used by more than 170 million students and educators worldwide.

The audit warned that Google's tools for schools lacked a number of privacy protections - like narrow limits on how the company could use students' and teachers' personal data - that were required by European law.

Although the company addressed some of the concerns, the report said, Google declined to comply with Dutch requests to reduce a number of ''high risks'' cited in the audit.

It took a threat from the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the nation's privacy regulator, to help break the deadlock : Dutch schools would soon have to stop using Google's education tools, the government agency said, if the products continued to pose those risks.

Two years later, Google has developed new privacy measures and transparency tools to address the Dutch concerns. The tech giant plans to roll out those changes to its education customers later this year in the Netherlands and elsewhere around the world.

Dutch government and educational organizations have had remarkable success in compelling Big Tech companies to make major privacy changes. Their carrot-and-stick approaches engages high-level Silicon Valley executives in months of highly technical discussions and then makes compliance worth the companies' while by negotiating -

Collective agreements that allow the companies to sell their vetted tools to various governments ministries and the nation's schools. The Dutch efforts to prod change could provide a playbook for other small nations wrangling with tech superpowers.

For some U.S. tech companies, the Dutch imprimatur has now become a status symbol, a kind of seal of approval that can show regulators elsewhere to demonstrate they have passed one of Europe's most stringent data protection compliance processes.

HOW the Netherlands, a small country with a population of about 17.8 million people, came to sway American tech giants is a David and Goliath story involving a landmark law, called the General Data Protection Regulation, that was put into effect in 2018 by European Union member states.

THE E.U.law requires companies and other organizations to minimize their collection and use of personal information. It also requires companies, schools and others to conduct audits called, Data Impact Assessments, for certain practices, like processing sensitive personal information that could pose high privacy risks.

But the Dutch central government and educational institutions have gone much further by commissioning exhaustive technical and legal assessments of complex software platforms like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace and securing high-level company participation in the process.

''They have a centralized approach that leads to the ability to have scalable solutions,'' said Julie Brill, the chief privacy officer at Microsoft. ''The Netherlands punches above its weight.''

Last year, Zoom announced major changes to its data protection practices and policies after months of intensive discussions with SURF, a cooperative in the Netherlands that negotiates contracts with tech vendors on behalf of Dutch Universities and research institutions.

Lynn Haaland, chief privacy officer at Zoom, said the talks had helped the video communications company understand how to improve its products to meet European data protections standards'' and ''be more transparent with our users.''

Among other things, Zoom published an 11-page document detailing how the company collects and uses personal information about individuals participanting in meetings on its platforms.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Data, Privacy, Protection and Transparency, continues to Part {2}. The World Students Society thanks author Natasha Singer.

With most respectful dedication to the Students of Netherlands, Global Founder Framers of !WOW! and then Data Regulating Authorities of the World, Students, Professors and Teachers.

See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society - the exclusive ownership of every student in the world : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

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