Delft Shared Protester Names With Police, Prompting Privacy Review and Rule Change
TU delft shared the names of demonstrants with police and now acknowledges privacy procedures were not fully followed. Thursday at 9: 14 a. m. ET — the admission matters because the university says the data transfer happened under a police convenant and it has prompted an internal review and immediate policy changes that affect how campus personal data are handled.
Delft’s convenant with police and the 2024 disclosure
University the convenant with the police governs exchanges of information in cases of missing or vulnerable persons, physical safety and demonstrations. In early 2024 the university provided personal data on demonstrants at the police’s request; the police had assessed that the demonstration posed a potential risk to people and buildings. The university acknowledged that the handling of those registrations and the information-sharing process was incomplete and not sufficiently controllable.
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens and the legality of data sharing
The Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens said the sharing of personal data requires a legal basis and that a convenant alone is not enough. The university recognizes it did not fully comply with privacy law (the AVG) in this case and has pledged to investigate how execution of the convenant can be improved. The university also said that in the past two years the sharing of demonstrant names occurred only in this specific instance.
Vandalism at TU Eindhoven claimed by Palestine Action NL and campus reactions
Separately, activists claiming responsibility for vandalism at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven said they targeted the Auditorium; Palestine Action NL claimed the action and posted footage. The group said it attacked windows and doors during the Career Expo, an event attended by nearly 200 companies. The actionists broke over 20 large windows and smeared doors and facades with red paint, the university newspaper reported, and the group said it would continue until certain institutional ties were severed.
In response to the data-sharing admission, TU Delft has already changed internal rules on demonstrations to clarify the balance between the right to demonstrate and campus safety. The university emphasized that its campus includes facilities requiring heightened security, such as an on-site research reactor and multiple laboratories, and that much of the terrain is private property but accessible to the public.
As part of immediate steps, the university decided that any future disclosure of personal data to police will require an explicit decision by the College van Bestuur; every disclosure will be recorded centrally and disclosures will be checked annually. The university also said it will engage with involved parties about the future design and use of the convenant to ensure safety while respecting privacy and the right to demonstration.
More details on the internal investigation’s timeline were not provided; the university has confirmed the new approval and logging rules as the next formal decisions.
