Dutch to amend online spy law after referendum snub

The Dutch government today announced changes to a contentious new law to boost the online spying powers of its security services, after it was narrowly rejected in a referendum.

More than six million Dutch citizens out of some 13 million eligible voters cast ballots in last months national referendum on the controversial legislation, set to come into effect on May 1.

But after a 51.5 per cent turnout -- enough to validate the referendums results -- 49.4 per cent opposed the law, while 46.5 percent were in favour.

"We have agreed to make amendments to the law in a way that does as much justice as possible to the no vote, but also works for our security services," Prime Minister Mark Rutte said.

"We couldnt ignore the outcome of the referendum, but at the same time we could also not ignore... the new information law, because its important for our safety," he told journalists at his weekly post-cabinet meeting press conference.

Changes included making sure any online tapping is more targeted and that any breach of third party rights is carefully weighed.

The referendum, triggered by a group of Amsterdam students as a citizens initiative, was held on March 21 alongside municipal elections across 380 Dutch local councils.

The students were angered by what they saw as a bid by authorities to grab over-arching powers.

But proponents say the measures will give security services greater ability to monitor dangerous groups such as jihadist organisations.

The law among other things will allow Dutch security services to tap data from optic fibre cables -- but opponents fear such an information dragnet could also scoop up online data from innocent citizens.

The law will also allow the Dutch to share information with security services from other countries.

But under the governments amendments, Dutch security services will now have to take into consideration the other countries record on human rights.

They will also have to consider "the professional standards of its security services including its levels of data protection and oversight mechanisms," before sharing information, the government said in a statement.

Data gathered in a targeted probe will also not automatically be stored for a maximum of three years, but reviewed every year.

"Im not saying that you solve everything with the changes... but I do think these changes seriously address the concerns raised by some people," Rutte said.