The Public Prosecution Service is conducting a criminal investigation into the data breach at the Clinical Diagnostics laboratory in Rijswijk. During a hack, the personal data of 485,000 people was stolen.
The hack came to light due to reporting by the Foundation for Population Screening Netherlands. The hacked laboratory was involved in the population screening for cervical cancer. According to reports, the personal data of over 485,000 women was stolen.
Due to the significant societal impact, the police and the Public Prosecution Service initiated a criminal investigation two weeks ago on their own initiative. Women who have received a letter from the Foundation for Population Screening Netherlands stating that their data has been stolen do not need to file a report for this purpose. The criminal investigation is separate from any civil proceedings.
The investigation focuses on who stole the data. The police have since seized digital traces from Clinical Diagnostics. Due to the interest of the investigation, the Public Prosecution Service had not previously disclosed that an investigation was underway.