DeepL

Municipality of Terneuzen

The Municipality of Terneuzen uses DeepL. This for the automatic translation of (parts of) the website of the municipality of Terneuzen. This concerns www.terneuzen.nl. DeepL provides high-quality translations quickly and securely via neural networks. It pays attention to context and privacy. Automatic translation of arnhem.nl with DeepL Pro - Municipality of Arnhem

Last change on 4th of December 2025, at 14:45 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Other algorithms
• Impact assessment: DPIA
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

Organisation and business operations

Begin date

2025-12

Contact information

[e-mail]

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The purpose of using DeepL is to automatically and accurately translate (parts of) the municipal website into multiple languages. This increases the accessibility of municipal information for foreign-language residents and international visitors. DeepL offers the possibility to translate entire web pages, texts and documents quickly, securely and in high quality, while maintaining context and nuance.

• Accessibility: Residents and visitors who do not speak the Dutch language can easily access municipal information, promoting inclusion and equal service provision.

• Quality: DeepL delivers high-quality translations, which often require less post-editing than other machine translation services, thanks in part to features such as Clarify and the ability to adjust the tone (formal/informal).

• Privacy and security: DeepL guarantees maximum data security; texts are sent over an encrypted connection and deleted immediately after translation, keeping privacy-sensitive information protected. DeepL does not use input to train the algorithm and does not permanently store documents.

• Efficiency: The automatic translation service makes managing multilingual content more efficient and less labour-intensive for the organisation.

The deployment of DeepL supports the municipality's digital services without direct impact on citizens' rights or obligations. The system has a supporting role and contributes to the transparency and accessibility of municipal information.

Considerations

Benefits:

• Accessibility: Information on arnhem.nl will be available in multiple languages, enabling foreign-language residents and visitors to independently access municipal information and arrange matters online.

• Quick and easy access: Citizens do not have to wait for manual translations or third-party help; the translation is available immediately on the website.

• Privacy protection:DeepL Pro does not store translated texts and deletes them immediately after processing, protecting users' privacy.

• High translation accuracy:DeepL Pro generally delivers higher-quality translations than many free alternatives, reducing the likelihood of misunderstandings.

• Inclusiveness:Removing language barriers makes municipal services more accessible to a diverse group of residents, contributing to equal opportunities and social participation.

Disadvantages:

• Not always error-free: Automatic translations may contain errors or miss nuances, risking misinterpretation of important information.

• Limited language choice: DeepL Pro supports fewer languages than some other translation systems, so not all languages of residents or visitors are covered.

• No legal validity: Automatically translated texts are not legally binding; official procedures may still need to be handled in Dutch.

• Dependence on technology: In case of technical failure or maintenance, machine translation is temporarily unavailable.

Justification:

The advantages for citizens - such as instant accessibility, privacy protection, and inclusiveness - outweigh the disadvantages. The deployment of DeepL Pro is reasonably justified because it enables citizens to obtain municipal information independently and easily accessible, while ensuring privacy and ease of use. Any disadvantages are overcome by clear communication about the informative nature of the translations and the fact that official procedures remain in Dutch.

Human intervention

At DeepL Pro, translations are generated fully automatically; by default, no human checking or correction takes place before publication. However, after publication, staff can randomly check translations and manually adjust or correct them where necessary, for example if there are signals of errors or ambiguities. In addition, DeepL features such as Clarify enable users to be actively involved in the translation process, allowing human input to further improve the quality of translations.

Risk management

• Privacy and data protection: DeepL complies with the strictest data security and privacy requirements, including the AVG. Translated texts are deleted immediately after processing and not stored, minimising the risk of data leaks or unwanted storage of personal data

• Quality of translations: To reduce the risk of incorrect or unclear translations, staff can randomly check and correct translations. In addition, DeepL offers features such as Clarify, which allows users to actively indicate the correct context to make translations more accurate.

• Technical failures and errors: The system is set up to automatically recognise error messages (such as too many requests or server errors) and fix them where possible, for example by resending requests according to best practices for error handling.

• Language coverage restrictions: it is clearly communicated to users that not all languages are supported, and that translations are informative and do not have legal status.

These measures actively manage key risks and keep the use of DeepL responsible and safe for both the organisation and citizens.

Legal basis

The legal basis for making municipal websites accessible, and thus using DeepL for machine translation, stems from the Digital Government Act (Wdo), elaborated in the Government Digital Accessibility Decree. This act requires government organisations to make their websites and all content accessible to everyone, including people who are not proficient in the Dutch language. This has been a legal obligation since July 2018 and part of the Digital Government Act since July 2023.

In addition, this obligation is based on the UN Disability Convention and the Equal Treatment on the Basis of Disability or Chronic Illness Act, both of which require digital information and services to be accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities or different language backgrounds.

Link to Processing Index

Artikel 3 lid 1 Besluit digitale toegankelijkheid overheid:  Link naar externe paginahttps://wetten.overheid.nl/jci1.3:c:BWBR0040936&hoofdstuk=2&artikel=3&z=2018-07-01&g=2018-07-01

Elaboration on impact assessments

The municipality carried out a pre-DPIA prior to the deployment ofDeepL. This abbreviated risk assessment showed that the proposed processing of personal data does not pose a high privacy risk. Based on the results of the pre-DPIA, it was concluded that carrying out a full Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is not necessary. With this, the municipality complies with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the consideration has been carefully recorded and documented.

Impact assessment

Pre-scan DPIA

Operations

Data

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