Volgenant in FD over kort geding tegen de Staat

Amsterdam Een groep organisaties start een kort geding tegen de Staat om de Wet Bewaarplicht Telecommunicatie (WBT). De organisaties willen een halt toeroepen aan de opslag van bel-, internet- en mailgegevens. De WBT houdt in dat telecombedrijven en internetproviders gegevens over internet- en telefoniegebruik zes tot twaalf maanden moeten bewaren zodat Justitie die eventueel kan gebruiken. Onder de organisaties zijn de Nederlandse Vereniging van Strafrechtadvocaten en de Nederlandse Vereniging van Journalisten. In april oordeelde het Europese Hof van Justitie al dat het onbeperkt ongericht verzamelen van metadata niet is toegestaan. Er moeten volgens het Hof objectieve criteria worden toegepast om de noodzaak van verzamelen en opslaan vast te stellen, en er moet voorafgaande controle zijn door een onafhankelijk instantie of rechter. Ook de Raad van State oordeelde onlangs dat de wet in strijd is met de fundamentele grondrechten die het privéleven beschermen. Toch weigert de regering tot nu toe de wet buiten werking te stellen. ‘We gaan de rechter verzoeken de wet buiten werking te stellen, dan wel te verbieden dat deze wet nog wordt toegepast’, zegt Otto Volgenant van Boekx Advocaten.” (Bron: Financieel Dagblad)

Avatar photo
Author: Otto Volgenant
Otto Volgenant (1969) is a leading lawyer in the field of media law, privacy, internet, advertising and entertainment law. He is a renowned human rights litigator, focusing on online privacy issues. Otto represents clients in the media and privacy sector, often in high-profile cases regarding online human rights issues. Otto's clients include many leading NGO's, publishers, broadcasters, journalists, advertising agencies and TV production companies. “On issues of journalistic principle, Otto Volgenant is the main contact, advising on matters such as data and source protection, and freedom of speech.” Legal 500. Otto is at the forefront of the legal battle against online privacy infringements, such as online shaming and online sexual violence. He has successfully initiated legal proceedings against different kinds of online platforms, including BigTech. He works with a coalition of NGO's and regulators to find solutions to the immense privacy issues the online environment raises. As lead counsel, he won the landmark case Sanoma v. The Netherlands about protection of journalistic sources, at the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Another landmark case was the invalidation of the Dutch Dataretention Act. Summary proceedings were initiated on behalf of a broad coalition of plaintiffs: privacy defenders, the federation of journalists, lawyers, telco’s and ISP’s. The Court of The Hague invalidated the Dutch Dataretention Act with immediate effect. In addition to his daily work as a lawyer, he is a (board) member of the Dutch Association for Media and Communications Law, the Commission for Journalistic Source Protection and the Commission researching Criminal Defamation. Otto participates in the Dutch CASE working group on anti-SLAPP measures. He teaches regularly on privacy and human rights, and he co-authors the yearly Dutch Press Freedom Monitor. Otto is also active for Lawyers for Lawyers (L4L), a Dutch NGO committed to enable lawyers in any country of the world to practice law in freedom and independence. Otto was admitted to the Amsterdam bar in 1993. He studied at the Free University of Amsterdam and graduated cum laude in 1997 with a postgraduate degree in Computer Law. As o 1993, Otto worked at the Amsterdam firm Kennedy Van der Laan for 20 years, where he was appointed partner in 2001. Otto joined Boekx as a partner in 2014.

Please contact us if you have any questions