The Belgian Parliament's Finance and Budget Commission on Tuesday approved a bill catering for various fiscal provisions, including an amendment regarding “data mining.”
Under the bill, designated officials at the Federal Public Service on Finances will be authorised to cross-reference tax databases with data from the Central Contact Point of financial accounts, and contracts at the National Bank. This process is aimed at creating lists of high-risk profiles for potential fraud.
The provision sparked extensive debate. Last week, parliamentarian Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open Vld) spoke for 23 hours during the discussions. On Tuesday morning, Jan Jambon assured that data would only be de-anonymised in cases of suspicion or evidence of fraud.
Despite this assurance, Van Quickenborne remained unconvinced and responded on Tuesday afternoon with two additional hours of arguments, during which he proposed numerous amendments. The session stretched for 10 hours.
Discontent emerged within the liberal faction. Although part of the majority coalition, MP Mathieu Michel (MR), a former Secretary of State for Privacy Protection, expressed unease over the bill, a stance he had maintained under the previous government. “My opinion remains unchanged,” he reiterated on Tuesday.
The draft law passed with majority support against the opposition, except for an abstention by Vlaams Belang. While the majority voted against a Van Quickenborne amendment aimed at banning artificial intelligence in data mining, Mathieu Michel (MR) refrained from voting on this measure.
