At the end of one of our podcast recording sessions (number three is now online), colleague CF asked if she could take a picture of the guests. Of course, she could, was the cheerful response as they walked out. You don’t have to ask, one of them assured, we’re in a public place, you don’t (formally) have to ask for permission – before launching into a short lecture about how, in the Netherlands, we are often unnecessary sticklers about GDPR, the privacy law (General Data Protection Regulation).
Ignorance
Not only are we unnecessary sticklers for it, the law is often applied willy-nilly. Sometimes in ignorance. Such as students contacting us, requesting we take their names off the Observant website, citing GDPR, not realising that there are exceptions for the press, the so-called ‘journalistic exception’, which means publications aren’t required to remove a name or a photograph – let alone a whole article!
Last week, one of the faculties tried to fend us off using the privacy argument. I don’t know whether this was a case of ignorance, or an attempt to frustrate our journalist. Those attempts are a regular occurrence in our profession. After all, not everybody is keen to answer critical questions. Funnily enough, this wasn’t even a critical question. My colleague WD was looking for the names of a few department chairs at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences who were not listed on the UM website. As part of our investigation into – unnecessary – bureaucracy at the university, we wanted to ask a few supervisors about their biggest causes for frustration in that area.
Privacy reasons
Long story short, the FHML board secretary emailed WD to say that she could send the names, if WD could first explain why she needed them (that doesn’t really matter, we don’t have to give a reason); nonetheless, reason given, she then responded by saying that the dean and the director said she couldn’t provide those names to Observant, for privacy reasons.
Privacy? Don’t make me laugh. The names of people who hold an administrative position at the university should, by definition, be known. They are public, should be listed on the website. A university or faculty isn’t some sort of secret society, is it?
I have no idea what caused this decree to be issued. Is it to protect department chairs from the press? Or to prevent said chairs from speaking to the press? Who can say?