CABR may go online, but privacy remains at stake
A legislative change would enable digital access to the collaboration archive, with additional safeguards for living people.
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The Lower House (Tweede Kamer) discussed this month a legislative change that would enable the online publication of sensitive wartime archives. At its centre is the CABR, containing hundreds of thousands of files on post-war investigations into alleged collaboration.
The legislative change stems from the debate over the Central Archive of Special Jurisdiction, known as the CABR. The archive contains approximately 485,000 files on people investigated after the Second World War over possible collaboration with the German occupier. The material is of great importance for historical research and family history, but also contains personal data of people who are still alive.
Minister Letschert of Education, Culture and Science wants to expand the legal possibilities for processing special-category and criminal-law personal data in archives. Subject to conditions, it should also become possible to make archives containing personal data available online. The law stipulates that privacy must be carefully protected.
The Lower House discussed the proposal on 10 September. It concerns more than the CABR alone. The proposed rules are intended for exceptional archives of major social importance, for example concerning wars, genocide, crimes against humanity or political behaviour under totalitarian regimes. The law could therefore later affect other collections as well.
The scale of the CABR calls for precision. The Lower House refers to approximately 485,000 files; Stichting Werkgroep Herkenning cites around 425,000 people investigated after the war. One person may appear in multiple files. The figures therefore describe different units and must not be added together without explanation.
Stichting Werkgroep Herkenning warns that online searchability could unexpectedly confront families with information about parents or grandparents. Files may also contain documents from later years, meaning that not all the information concerns deceased people exclusively. The organisation therefore advocates caution, precisely because an internet search could otherwise have consequences more quickly than consulting material in a reading room.
The Lower House also called attention to new risks. D66 MP Dijk pointed to scraping, data mining and large-scale downloading by artificial-intelligence companies. The debate is therefore not only about historical openness, but also about how much control relatives, archive managers and the government retain over the dissemination of sensitive data.
The legislative change provides a legal basis, but does not automatically mean that all CABR files will immediately be placed online in full and without restrictions. The conditions, technical measures and implementing decisions will determine the practical outcome. The core of the debate is therefore not only whether the archive becomes accessible, but also how openness and the protection of living people can coexist.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The legislative change should enable online access to sensitive archives subject to conditions.
- The CABR contains approximately 485,000 files and data on an estimated 425,000 people.
- The Lower House and interest groups point to privacy risks for living people involved and their relatives.
- The precise implementing rules and technical safeguards will determine how broad access becomes.
Left
Arguments Openness helps expose historical wrongdoing, supports relatives and prevents government archives from being accessible only to people with the time, money or specialist knowledge. Digital access can democratise research, provided commercial reprocessing and large-scale profiling are limited.
Values Historical justice, equal access, transparency and the protection of victims and relatives.
Consequences Greater openness may increase public knowledge and recognition, but without strong safeguards families may be hurt again and sensitive data may be disseminated on a large scale.
Centre
Arguments The institutional solution lies in a legal basis with phased access, clear selection criteria, privacy assessments and technical restrictions on downloading and indexing. Openness is defensible, but must remain practicable and controllable.
Values The rule of law, care, practicability and balance between public interests.
Consequences A step-by-step approach may increase trust, but makes access slower and more complicated than full publication.
Right
Arguments The state should be cautious about putting criminal-law and family-sensitive information online. Opening an archive does not mean that the government must facilitate all digital dissemination; protection of privacy and property or family rights should carry greater weight.
Values Privacy, individual responsibility, data sovereignty and protection against state and corporate profiling.
Consequences Stricter restrictions reduce the risk of digital pillories and AI abuse, but may make historical research and public scrutiny more difficult.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The article’s core has been checked directly against parliamentary information and an independent interest group. The text distinguishes between files and people and presents the introduction and implementation details as not yet final.
- confirmed The Lower House discussed the legislative change on 10 September 2026. — The Lower House page dates the debate to 10 September 2026. source
- confirmed The CABR contains approximately 485,000 files. — This figure appears in the Lower House’s explanatory memorandum. source
- confirmed Stichting Werkgroep Herkenning cites approximately 425,000 people investigated. — This figure appears in the foundation’s statement of 8 September 2026. source
- confirmed The proposed law makes online availability possible subject to conditions. — The parliamentary description refers to the online publication of public archives containing data on living people subject to conditions; the Staatscourant describes the statutory basis. source
- confirmed The Lower House discussed the risks of scraping and data mining by AI companies. — This is stated explicitly in the parliamentary description of the debate. source
Editor's note
The Lower House debate, the main outlines of the proposal and the scale of the CABR are certain. The precise timetable, technical access and definitive privacy safeguards have not yet been established.Sources
- Wijziging van de Archiefwet — Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal
- SWH roept Kamer op: openbaarheid CABR vraagt om zorgvuldigheid — Stichting Werkgroep Herkenning
- Staatscourant 2026, 8966 — Overheid.nl
More on this in Dutch media
- Het Parool — „cabr archieven”
- Trouw — „cabr archieven”
- NRC — „cabr archieven”