Dashboard overview of demonstrations

Municipality of Amsterdam

Data analysis for the purposes of preparing and analysing demonstrations.

Last change on 2nd of July 2026, at 15:28 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

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• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Public Order and Safety

Begin date

2017-04

Contact information

[e-mail]

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The purpose of the demonstrations dashboard is to provide an overview of all registered demonstrations. This is used to prepare for the facilitation of demonstrations and to identify developments that the local authority needs to anticipate. This enables the local authority to facilitate demonstrations more effectively whilst ensuring public order is maintained. 

Considerations

We receive a large number of notifications for demonstrations in Amsterdam every year (1,656 in 2023, and over 2,000 in 2024 up to September). These are submitted via a notification form. The right to demonstrate is a fundamental right. The city council, the police and the Public Prosecution Service are actively committed to protecting this right. Based on the information provided in the notification forms, we assess what is required to safeguard this right. And, based on information from the police, we evaluate how demonstrations unfold. 

Human intervention

The data visualisation provides policy officers with an insight into the operational reality of the notification(s). This forms part of a comprehensive assessment carried out in consultation with various organisations, such as the police. On this basis, the police carry out a risk and capacity assessment for the demonstration. The data visualisation at OOV does not provide any automated advice or solution. 

Risk management

Demonstrating is a fundamental right. People are free to demonstrate for any cause. It may be the case that the organiser of a demonstration is demonstrating to draw attention to issues linked to religion, gender, political views, etc. The law does not permit the mayor to interfere with the content of a demonstration. Only the purpose of a demonstration is requested and recorded in the notification so that it can be taken into account in the risk assessment – for example, to determine whether a backlash might be expected and whether protective measures are required. It can be assumed that this purpose will also be made known by the demonstrators or the organising body during the demonstration.

Risk management:

- Uses only necessary data (anonymised)

- Restricted access to data visualisation via personal authorisation based on role/function (accessible only to the Demonstrations Team)

- Substantive assessment is carried out by a human.

- A DPIA has been carried out for the OOV Data Warehouse

- A DPIA for the demonstration process is forthcoming

Risk factors:

- Personal data

- Location data (from the registered demonstration)

- Combining data (retrospective analysis)

- Sensitive data (special categories of personal data)

Risk mitigation:

- Uses only necessary data

- Restricted access to data visualisation via personal authorisation based on role/function

- Substantive assessment is a human judgement.

Legal basis

Public Assemblies Act

Operations

Data

The demonstrations that have been notified are received as Notifications. We compile weekly overviews from these. We use these weekly overviews to keep the mayor informed and to coordinate with the tripartite committee. We also use the data to analyse trends over longer periods. For example, to gain an insight into the number of demonstrations broken down by time (per year and month) and location (where most demonstrations take place). 

All personal data may be relevant. The organiser who registers the demonstration with the local authority is free to fill in the field containing information about the demonstration or the organiser. This could therefore potentially include (sensitive) personal data. 

Technical design

Model architecture:

The system provides a visual representation of the data by aggregating it by location or month. It also presents the demonstrations in a weekly overview.