87% of Dutch residents would stop using DigiD if US takeover goes through

A recent survey has revealed that 87 percent of people in the Netherlands would want to stop using the Dutch digital identification system DigiD in the event of an US takeover. 

Concerns over possible US takeover of DigiD

Radar Panel has conducted a survey of 28.000 residents in the Netherlands and found that 96 percent are worried about the possibility of the US company Kyndryl acquiring the cloud and infrastructure company Solvinity, which DigiD uses. 87 percent of survey participants went so far as to say they would want to boycott the online ID system if the acquisition went through. 

DigiD is used to manage virtually every official matter in the Netherlands, from taxes and pensions to health insurance and social security benefits. This makes it very difficult to access many government services and websites without DigiD. 

Indeed, in the Radar Panel survey, one in three people said they had previously tried to complete an official task without DigiD, but 75 percent were unsuccessful. "We're stuck with DigiD; this should never have been outsourced to a company outside the Netherlands," said one participant.

Alternative methods, such as mail or phone, take a lot of extra time and can be quite a hassle if they're even an option. "You already need your DigiD to make an appointment to arrange something at a physical counter," said another participant. 

Dutch supervisor organisation investigates takeover of DigiD

The Investment Assessment Agency (BTI) is investigating the possible acquisition of Solvinity and how it could impact DigiD accessibility and data security, which could take months. The Dutch government is also against the takeover, but cannot force companies to reject acquisitions. 

There are concerns that if a US company takes over Solvinity, access to services like DigiD and MijnOverheid.nl could be blocked if the US government imposes sanctions on the Netherlands. GroenLinks-PvdA MP Barbara Kathmann argued that the government shouldn’t let it get to the point where “[US President Donald]Trump can shut down our digital government with a single push”, reports NOS.

Tech lawyer Ot van Daalen believes consumer concerns are valid and that the acquisition would jeopardise digital sovereignty in the Netherlands. While European legislation requires EU member states to have national alternatives to these types of systems by the end of 2026, this deadline is not likely to be met. The government plans on phasing out dependence on US cloud services only in the coming years.

There are not yet any viable alternatives, but Nijmegen could offer some hope as the only Dutch municipality that has a different decentralised login app called Yivi, managed by a Dutch organisation. An expansion of this system could be considered an alternative for DigiD.