Municipality of Zaandam – Court Ruling (Netherlands, 2026)
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The court ruled that the Municipality of Zaandam lawfully processed a list of objections from a parent seeking an exemption from compulsory education. This matters because it clarifies that municipalities can require detailed information for educational exemptions without violating data protection laws.
What happened
The Municipality of Zaandam processed a parent's list of objections to schools as part of an exemption request from compulsory education.
Who was affected
Parents seeking exemptions from compulsory education for their children.
What the authority found
The court decided that the municipality was allowed to keep the list of objections under Dutch law and did not need to remove it as requested.
Why this matters
This case sets a precedent that municipalities can require detailed information for educational processes. It reminds parents that their submissions may be subject to data processing requirements.
GDPR Articles Cited
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National Law Articles
A data subject applied for an exemption from compulsory education for school years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 for their son. On 24 July 2022 the data subject submitted a list containing the specific objections to each of the schools within a reasonable distance from their home, as required by the municipality. On 5 April 2024 the data subject filed an erasure request (Article 17 GDPR) to remove this list, as they believed this list to be unlawfully processed. On 12 June 2024 the municipality decided not to grant the request for removal. The municipality held that is obliged under national law to process a declaration of objections to potential schoolsCompulsory Education Act (Leerplichtwet) 1969, https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0002628/2024-01-01 and archive this informationArchival Act (Archiefwet), https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0007376/2024-06-19. The data subject objected to this decision and appealed to the appeals committee of the municipality. They argued that the declaration did not have to list separate objections to each of the schools. This argument was rejected, and the data subject appealed the decision to the court. The court held that the list of objections to schools was lawfully processed and the municipality did not have to grant the data subject's erasure request (Article 17 GDPR). Firstly, national lawArticle 6(1) of the Compulsory Education Act (Leerplichtwet 1969), https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0002628/2024-01-01 requires parents to declare on which grounds they need an exemption from compulsory education. Specifically, parents must submit a "personal declaration", which must explain the objections to the educational values of all schools within a reasonable area from their home. The court held that the authoritiesCompulsory Education Officers (Dutch: leerplichtambtenaar) and courts have to be able to investigate the objections to the educational values of all schools in the area. The court held that this is only possible if there is a list
Outcome
Court Ruling
A ruling by a national court on a data-protection matter.
Related Cases (0)
No other cases found for Municipality of Zaandam in NL
This is the only recorded case for this entity in this jurisdiction.
Details
About this data
Cite as: Cookie Fines. Municipality of Zaandam - Netherlands (2026). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu
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