Release Notes
On this page you will find changes in the software that are useful to know if you are a visitor or editor.
December 13, 2024
For visitor:
Modified: Colophon
The page 'Sitemap' has been added to the colophon. This page contains an overview of internal links.
The 'Copyright' page has been added to the colophon. This describes the policy on the reuse of content and copyrights with regard to the Algorithm Register.
The 'Cookies' page has been added to the colophon. This page explains the use of cookies.
The texts of the following pages of the colophon have been adjusted; 'Privacy', 'Archive' and 'Accessibility'.
For editors:
Added: New template
In the web form, organizations can use templates of algorithm descriptions from suppliers. From now on, organizations can also use the new template to publish the description of the algorithm 'Safe emailing using business rules, DLP algorithm' (from Contec BV).
Modified: Web form
The Theme field was limited to selecting three policy areas in which the algorithm is deployed. This limit has now been removed.
December 6, 2024
For visitor:
Improved: Algorithm overview
On the organization page you will see an overview of all algorithm descriptions published by the organization in question. Previously only the title of the algorithm description was displayed. This has been adjusted so that it matches the display on the algorithm overview page.
Improved: Dashboard
Via the menu option you can view maps of municipalities, water boards, provinces and environmental services showing who is already connected and who is already publishing. When you move the mouse over the map, the name of the organization is displayed. This display has been improved.
November 29, 2024
For visitor:
Improved: Organize Organizations
The filter functionality for organizations contains two buttons. Using these buttons you can go through the sorting options or make a selection directly. The sorting options consist of sorting by alphabetical order or by the number of published algorithm descriptions.
Improved: Dashboard
Via the menu option you can view maps of municipalities, water boards, provinces and environmental services showing who is already connected and who is already publishing. If you click on a map, the window is briefly highlighted.
November 22, 2024
For visitor:
Improved: Top 5 similar descriptions now available on the algorithm description page
On the algorithm description page, you can now click through to similar descriptions of algorithms published by other organizations. This list shows the top 5 descriptions that most closely match the selected algorithm description. This makes it easier to discover similar algorithms.
November 8, 2024
For visitor:
Improved: Dashboard
Navigation and usability on the dashboard page have been improved to increase digital accessibility.
Modified: Dashboard
Via the menu option you can view maps of municipalities, water boards, provinces and environmental services showing who is already connected and who is already publishing. When you move the mouse over the map, the name of the organization appears.
Modified: Colophon
The 'Participate' and 'Get started yourself' pages have been removed from the colophon. Instead, the 'Register your algorithm' page has been added. This page explains how to register an algorithm description.
November 1, 2024
For visitor:
Modified: Extension of explanation
The texts on the home page have been adjusted. The page 'Frequently Asked Questions' has been improved and expanded.
New: Register your algorithm
A new page has been added to the colophon, called 'Register your algorithm'. This page explains how to register an algorithm description.
For editors:
Improved: Webform
The web form previously used the abbreviation “std.” for standard; this has been changed.
October 24, 2024
For visitor:
Improved: Dashboard
Via the menu option you can view maps of municipalities, water boards, provinces and environmental services showing who is already connected and who is already publishing. The display of connected and published organisations has been adjusted for the desktop version when you click on the map.
Improved: Algorithm overview
In the algorithm description overview it is now possible to click through to the publishing organization. On the organization page you will see an overview of all algorithm descriptions published by the organization in question.
For editors:
Added: new template
In the web form, organizations can use templates for algorithm descriptions from suppliers. From now on, organizations can also use the new template to publish the description of the algorithm 'Protector' (from BMconsultants).
October 18, 2024
For visitors:
Improved: Dashboard
Via the menu option you can view maps of municipalities, water boards, provinces and environmental services showing who is already connected and who is already publishing. The display of connected and published organisations has been adjusted for the mobile version when you click on the map.
For editors:
Added: Template improvement
In the web form, organizations can use templates of algorithm descriptions from suppliers. The template of the algorithm 'Anonymization software' from Datamask has been renamed to 'Anonymize' from Xxllnc.
October 11, 2024
For visitors:
Improved: Dashboard
Via the menu option you can view maps of municipalities, water boards, provinces and environmental services showing who is already connected and who is already publishing. There is now also a reference to the organization page. Further functionality will be added later.
October 4, 2024
For editors:
Added: New template
In the web form, organizations can use templates of algorithm descriptions from suppliers. From now on, organizations can also use the new template to publish the description of the algorithm 'CiVision Samenlevingszaken' (from PinkRoccade).
September 12, 2024
For visitors:
Solved: Translate algorithm description page
When a visitor wanted to view a translated version of an algorithm description, the page was not translated immediately. Only after refreshing the page, the translation was visible. This has now been fixed, so that the user no longer needs to refresh the page.
September 10, 2024
For visitors:
New: Dashboard
Via the menu option 'Dashboard' you can now see growth graphs in the register. For municipalities, water boards, provinces and environmental services now view maps showing who is already connected and who is already publishing.
September 3, 2024
For visitors:
New: Get started yourself
A new page has been added to the colophon, called 'Get started yourself'. This page explains how you can participate in the Algorithm Register.
August 27, 2024
For editors:
Improved: Quality Dashboard
The July 11, 2024 release indicated that a number of graphs and reports will be shown. The layout of these graphs and reports has been improved. The maps were previously not displayed properly on small screens, but this has now been fixed. The graphs 'Total number of affiliated organizations' and 'Total number of published algorithm descriptions' were previously displayed per month; this has now been changed to per day.
August 13, 2024
For editors:
Improved: Algorithm ID
Algorithm descriptions can be downloaded as CSV and Excel files. From now on, the downloaded file of an algorithm description also contains the algorithm ID. This can be used to link to the URL of an algorithm description.
Improved: Bullet points in Microsoft Word
When downloading algorithm description in Microsoft Word, bullet points were displayed as HTML tags. This has now been fixed.
For visitors:
Improved: Organization type sorting
Currently, searching is possible via the filter functionality organization types and then by organization, with the default order being based on the number of published algorithm descriptions. Two buttons have been added that allow you to sort alphabetically or by the number of published algorithm descriptions.
Improved: Explanation of impact assessments
The explanation about the impact tests on the algorithm description page has been adjusted.
August 2, 2024
For editors:
Added: New template
In the web form, organizations can use templates of algorithm descriptions from suppliers. From now on, organizations can also use the new template to publish the description of the algorithm 'Virtual municipality assistant Gem' (from Municipality of Tilburg).
Improved: Quality Dashboard
In the July 11, 2024 release, it was stated that broken links would be shown in a report. This has now been further expanded to show specific error codes, such as 404 (Not Found), 500 (Internal Server Error), and other status codes.
July 26, 2024
For editors:
Improved: Quality Dashboard
In previous releases this month, maps of the Netherlands were introduced showing per municipality or province whether it is already connected to the Algorithm Register and has published one or more algorithm descriptions. From now on, the same can also be seen for the water boards and environmental services in the Netherlands.
July 25, 2024
For editors:
Solved: Webform
In the web form, editors can preview an algorithm description they have saved. This way, they can see what the algorithm description or a change to it will look like before it is published. However, an error occurred where previewing no longer worked. This was due to URLs being made more readable (release July 11, 2024) to improve Findability (SEO). This error has been fixed and the preview function is working again.
Improved: Quality Dashboard
In the July 11, 2024 release, the charts "Total number of affiliated organizations" and "Total number of published algorithm descriptions" were introduced. From now on, the totals will be shown in the header of those charts.
In addition, the total number of municipalities turned out to be incorrect, which has now been corrected.
Added: New template
In the web form, organizations can use templates of algorithm descriptions from suppliers. From now on, organizations can also use the new template to publish the description of the algorithm 'Text Analysis' (from ZyLAB eDiscovery & Compliance Services BV).
July 19, 2024
For visitors:
Solved: Search smarter
The selection filter Impact tests can be used to search for algorithm descriptions for which a specific impact test has been performed. When selecting the option 'Other', not all algorithm descriptions were shown as results even though they did meet that criterion. This error has now been fixed.
For editors:
Improved: Quality Dashboard
In the release of July 11, 2024, a map of the Netherlands was introduced, showing per municipality whether it is already connected and has published one or more algorithm descriptions. A map has now also been introduced, showing the same for provinces.
In addition, a bar chart shows how many algorithm descriptions in the publication categories 'High-risk AI system', 'Impactful algorithms' and 'Other algorithms' have been published in the Algorithm Register.
These visualizations allow reporting on the filling of the Algorithm Register.
July 11, 2024
For visitors:
Improved: Controls (UX)
When you search for algorithm descriptions in the Algorithm Register, the search results are displayed using summary tiles. These provide the most relevant information. These are the organisation in question, a short description of the algorithm, the publication category, status and, from now on, also (1) any impact assessments that have been carried out.
The appearance of these tiles was then used as a basis for (2) the display of the summary tile on the pages of the full algorithm descriptions. This creates more uniformity on the website and gives the visitor peace.
Previously, on the page describing an algorithm, the name, organization, short description, theme, status, publication category, and impact assessments of that algorithm were displayed in both the summary tile and the table below. To prevent all this information from being described twice, (3) this data is now only displayed in the summary tile.
We have improved the (4) display of selection filters for both the algorithms page and the organizations page. The categories are now shown below each other with the number of results that fall under that category behind them. If a certain selection filter contains many categories, this list is automatically collapsed. The visitor can expand this list if desired to see all categories (and collapse it again to hide them). This makes the selections clearer.
Solved: Search smarter
In the release of June 14, 2024, a new selection filter was introduced, which allows searching for algorithm descriptions for which a certain impact test has been performed. However, when more than 1 performed impact test was indicated for an algorithm description, it was not shown as a result when selecting a performed impact test as search criteria. This bug has now been fixed.
Improved: Findability (SEO)
To ensure that everyone can find and recognise the Algorithm Register more easily, the findability has also been improved in this release of the Algorithm Register. This means that the (1) titles and descriptions of pages that search engines display as results have been optimised and that (2) the URLs of algorithm descriptions have been made more readable. These improvements should ensure that pages of the Algorithm Register are easier to find via search engines (such as DuckDuckGo, Google, Bing, etc.). In addition, pages become more recognisable for visitors who search for certain algorithms via search engines.
For editors:
Improved: Quality measurement
It is possible that a link is included in the Algorithm Register in an algorithm description that later turns out to no longer work or no longer exists. From now on, these broken links will be shown in a report, so that these references can be repaired. In this way, we ensure that only working links are included in the register.
Improved: Quality Dashboard
The number of organizations that describe their algorithms in the Algorithm Register grows every month. This growth is shown in (1) a graph showing the total number of affiliated organizations and (2) a graph showing the total number of published algorithm descriptions. These visualizations make it possible to report on the growth of the past years per month.
An (3) interactive map of the Netherlands shows whether each municipality has already joined and has published one or more algorithm descriptions.
Finally, a (4) Organization top-20 has been made available. Here you can see which 20 organizations have published the most algorithm descriptions so far.
Improved: Version Control
In the previous release, the functionality in the web form was rolled out to archive saved versions of algorithm descriptions. If a saved version is now archived, it disappears from the list of saved versions for the algorithm description and is shown in the new archive overview. From here, an editor (provided that he or she has the correct rights) has a total overview of all archived versions of all algorithm descriptions of his or her organization. If it is decided to unarchive an archived version, it is removed from the archive overview and shown again with the saved versions of the algorithm description.
This is part of the further development of the new web form that is being tested extensively. If the results are good, the web form will be renewed this summer.
Added: New template
In the web form, organizations can use templates of algorithm descriptions from suppliers. From now on, organizations can also use the new template to publish the description of the algorithm 'Zivver' (from Zivver BV).
June 2024
For editors:
Improved: Publication process
The web form is currently being renewed for the growing Algorithm Register and the ever-growing group of publishing organizations. This release includes the following components:
From the web form, user accounts can be created and their rights set.
Each editor can set whether they are allowed to edit the organization details.
In consultation, an alternative workflow can be set up for publishing algorithm descriptions. Organizations can then publish using two of their own employees according to the four-eyes principle, without the intervention of ICTU.
This is part of the further development of the new web form that will be tested extensively until July. If the results are good, the web form will be renewed this summer.
Improved: Version Control
Each time an algorithm description is saved by an editor, a version is created and saved. Such a previous version can then be restored, if necessary. Editors are now given the possibility to archive saved versions of algorithm descriptions that have not been published. The editor also has the possibility to unarchive the archived versions and republish them.
This is also part of the further development of the new web form.
For visitors:
Improved: Smarter Search
1) For more and more algorithms, tests are performed that provide insight into the impact of an algorithm. It is now possible to search by means of a selection filter for algorithm descriptions for which a specific impact test has been performed. A distinction is made between the following performed tests as search criteria:
Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA)
Impact Assessment Human Rights and Algorithms (IAMA)
Other
No
Only published algorithm descriptions according to publication standard 1.0.0 can be found using this selection filter.
2) It was already possible for visitors to apply a selection filter to search only for algorithm descriptions of a specific organization. In this case, one first selects an organization type (e.g. 'Province', 'Municipality', 'Ministry', etc.) and then a specific organization. Only when the organization was selected, the search was performed and thus the results updated. From now on, the search is already performed when selecting an organization type, so that it is also possible to search for the algorithm descriptions of all organizations that fall under a certain type.
Solved: Download all algorithms
Via the menu option 'Algorithms' it is possible to download all algorithm descriptions. An error occurred where the download was stuck. That error has now been fixed.
May 2024
For editors:
Improved: Webform
The Reference Impact Assessments field in the web form now gives the editor the option to select Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and Impact Assessment Human Rights and Algorithms (IAMA) with one mouse click. This ensures that the impact assessments are stated in the same way for all publications with standard 1.0.0. If none of these impact assessments have been used, the editor has the option to fill in an impact assessment himself.
Improved: Quality measurement
The editor now receives a notification when a field in the web form is filled in with a broken or existing link. The field in question is highlighted, so that the editor immediately knows which field it is. Without adjusting the broken link, the algorithm description cannot be published.
This is also part of the previously mentioned further development of the new web form, which will hopefully be renewed this summer after positive results following thorough testing.
Added: New template
In the web form, organizations can use templates of algorithm descriptions from suppliers. From now on, organizations can also use the new template to publish the description of the algorithm 'Anonymization software' (from DataMask BV).
Improved: Publication process
As mentioned earlier, we are working on improving the publication process, due to the growth of the register. This release contains a number of optimizations for the design of the web form. We will test these (and future) improvements extensively until July. If the results are good, the web form will be renewed this summer.
Improved: Publication process
Organizations use a web form with a publication process that allows them to control what they publish. The publication process has multiple steps. This quarter we are working on improving the entire process. This is necessary because of the growth of the register and we want to meet the wishes of an ever-increasing group of editors. The most important improvements so far are:
The web form has been redesigned for a more user-friendly experience.
Each time an algorithm description is saved, a draft version is now created. This makes it possible to roll back previously saved versions of descriptions.
Until July we will also test these (and future) improvements extensively. If the results are good, the web form will be renewed next summer.
Added: New templates
In the web form, organizations can use templates of algorithm descriptions from suppliers. From now on, organizations can also use new templates to publish the description of the algorithm 'Octobox Anonymize' (from Octobox and DocDirekt) and 'Public space notifications' (from the Municipality of Amsterdam).
Solved: Organization details web form
The web form can be used by organizations to write a text for their organization page in the Algorithm Register. There, they can indicate how organizations deal with algorithms and the publication about this in the Algorithm Register. There was a short error where these organization details could not be saved. This error has been fixed and everything is working properly again.
For visitors:
Improved: Smarter Search
It is now possible to apply a selection filter when searching for algorithm descriptions, so that you only get results that fall under a certain publication category. A distinction has been made between the following categories:
High-risk AI system
Impactful algorithms
Other algorithms
April 2024
For visitors:
Improved: Suggestions for organizations based on search term
As you type, suggestions of organizations that may be searched for will appear below the search bar. Clicking on a suggestion will automatically complete the search term.
Improved: Easier navigation to all algorithm descriptions
Above the search bar, the total number of algorithms is clickable. By clicking on this, you will be taken directly to the overview of all published algorithm descriptions.
Improved: All selection filters can be cleared at once
All search criteria you used when searching for an algorithm description or organization can now be removed at once by clicking 'Remove selection' above the filter block.
New: Clearer what can be searched for on a page via the search bar
The menu options 'Algorithms' and 'Organizations' allow searching for algorithm descriptions and organizations that have published in the Algorithm Register. The search bar on those pages has been given a title to make it clearer what can be found there.
New: The Algorithm Register is automatically translated into Frisian (beta)
Frisian visitors can now also use the Algorithm Register. The website can be used in Frisian via the Language button at the top right of each page (on mobile via the 'Menu' button). The algorithm descriptions in Frisian have been automatically translated. These may contain errors. For the original descriptions, go to the Dutch version of the Algorithm Register.
March 2024
For visitors:
Adjusted: Text adjustments information pages
The heading 'Objectives of the Algorithm Register' has been added to the ' About the Algorithm Register ' page, where our seven objectives are briefly explained.
Improved: Web Archive
The web archiving for the Algorithm Register is working properly again. For more information, click here.
Adjusted: The search bar now remembers the search term suggestions
As you type in a search query, suggestions appear below the search bar. If you click outside the search bar, those suggestions disappear, but they now return when you click back into the search bar.
New: It is now possible to search via the 'Organizations' menu option.
In the main menu at the top there is an option 'Organizations' where you can see a list of all the organizations that have published, with a summary of their algorithm descriptions. From that page you can now use the search bar to search for organizations.
Improved: Searching with organization abbreviation shows the option to navigate directly to the organization page
It is now possible to navigate directly to an organization page using an abbreviation, for example BZK (Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations) or UWV (Employee Insurance Agency).
Improved: With an organization name as a search term you can now find all algorithm descriptions of that organization
If you type the name of an organization in the search bar, you expect to find at least all algorithm descriptions of that organization. That was not always the case. The search function has been technically adjusted to guarantee completeness.
Improved: Smarter search when an organization name is used as a search term
If you typed the abbreviated or full name of an organization in the search bar, you would get all algorithm descriptions where the organization name appeared somewhere in the description as a search result. Even if they were algorithm descriptions of other organizations. That is not always what you are looking for. That is why you now get suggestions below the search bar that you can choose from. This allows you to search faster and more specifically. These suggestions will be further expanded and refined in the coming period.
Adjusted: Publication standard is now also displayed
When displaying search results, it is now also shown which version of the publication standard has been used. Because the available information can differ per version.
Improved: When downloading, you can see that the download is still in progress
Due to the growth of the Algorithm Register, downloading now takes a bit longer. You will now receive feedback about this so that you know that you have to wait a while until the download is finished.
For editors:
New: Anonymization algorithm description filled faster using the eData BV template
In the web form, organizations can now use the template from the supplier eData BV (also known as eSpecialists BV) to fill in the algorithm description of Anonymization more quickly.
Adjusted: Check the link to your own website on the organization page
On this register, organizations can explain on their own organization page how they deal with algorithms. In the field: 'More information' a link can be included to a page on the own website. It is now no longer possible to add spaces in that link. It is now allowed to add a slash ('/') at the end of a link.
Fixed: Texts that were divided into paragraphs with empty lines in between were not saved
Due to a recent bug, information that was split over multiple paragraphs was not saved. This caused information to disappear. This has now been fixed.
February 2024
For visitors:
Fixed: No more strange character in CSV download
When downloading algorithm descriptions in a CSV file, sometimes a strange character would appear. This bug has now been fixed.
Fixed: English Excel download now includes English labels
When downloading English algorithm descriptions, Dutch labels were shown. These labels, shown in column A, have now been translated to English.
Fixed: Tabs in Excel file are displayed sequentially
When downloading algorithm descriptions with multiple publication standards, the tabs are displayed from newest to oldest version.
Modified: Release information has been renamed to release notes
In the colophon, version information has been renamed to release notes.
Fixed: No more HTML code in Excel downloads
When downloading algorithm descriptions in an Excel file, formatting code was accidentally included. This is technical code intended for displaying text on the website. This error has now been resolved.
For editors:
New: Create algorithm description faster using a template
In the web form you can now use templates to fill in your algorithm description faster. To start with, 9 templates have been made available by suppliers who mainly supply to municipalities.
Modified: Publication Standard version 1.0 now mandatory for new algorithm descriptions
In December 2023, the final version of the Publication Standard was established. It is now no longer possible to start new descriptions in an older version of the standard. Existing descriptions can still be edited in an older standard.
January 2024
For visitors:
Improved: Download options have been expanded
All algorithm descriptions are available for download in the register. This can be done for all algorithm descriptions at the same time in one very large file. It can also be done separately for each algorithm description. It is now possible to download algorithm descriptions in both Dutch and English. And this can be done as an Excel file or as a CSV file. If you choose a CSV file, you can also open it in Excel, but to open algorithm descriptions in Excel, it is more convenient to download them as an Excel file.
New: Search terms are highlighted in yellow in search results
When searching, you will sometimes see your search term highlighted in yellow in the search results. This is the case if the term appears in the short description. If the term is found elsewhere in an algorithm description, you will see that algorithm in the search results, but not with the search term highlighted in yellow.
Improved: Filter options now also work in English view
Filter options in the 'Algorithms' page now also work in English.
Improved: Use search terms to filter
You can now combine search terms with other filter options to help you focus your searches.
New: Menu option: 'Organizations'
A new option 'Organizations' has been added to the main menu at the top. Here you will now find a list of all organizations that have published, with a summary of their algorithm descriptions. Organizations now have a new option to provide their own general explanation. They can also provide an explanation of why they do not publish on the Algorithm Register.
New: Information page: 'Report vulnerability'
The footer includes a link to a new page with instructions on how to report a security vulnerability on the website.
Fixed: Organizations are now sorted alphabetically in lists
Organizations are now displayed in alphabetical order by default everywhere.
Modified: The 'Web Archive' link has been renamed to 'Archive'
In the footer is a link to the daily updated web archive of the website. The name of this link has been changed to 'Archive'. This is to match the naming on other government sites.
For editors:
New: Writing help is available for spelling and language errors
When filling out the web form, a spell check is now automatically performed like in a word processor and suggestions for improvements are given.
New: You can now add information about your organization
You now have the opportunity to provide additional information about how the organization deals with algorithms and the publication thereof on the Algorithm Register. There is also an opportunity to add a link to an information page on the organization's own website. Ask your contact person to help you use it for the first time.
December 2023
For visitors:
The search results are displayed in a more compact format
The visitor now sees more search results at a glance.
Search suggestions are displayed
The visitor will see suggestions below the search bar based on the letters entered.
The web archive has been added to the footer
For more information, click here.
The register is automatically translated to English
International visitors can now also use the Algorithm Register.
The download button
The button that previously downloaded a CSV file now downloads an Excel file.
For editors:
Organization page
In the organization details page, the editor can describe additional information about how they handle algorithms and their publication.
Technical errors that occurred when downloading an algorithm description have been fixed
Where the editor used to be able to leave fields empty or incomplete and save them, he now gets an error message. This error message states which field still needs action.
November 2023
For visitors:
The search engine has been updated
You can now search for combinations of keywords, misspellings, abbreviations and synonyms.
The search results are divided into organization types
On the left side of the search results, the user is given the option to select an organization type and sees an overview of the selected filters.
For editors:
The editor sees how far the web form has been completed
A progress bar above the entry form shows the editor how complete the algorithm description is.
The final version of the Publication Standard is available
Algorithm descriptions in the register have a fixed text structure: the Publication Standard. Previously, this standard was still under development and various concept versions were used side by side. The final 1.0 version became available in December. The editor can best publish new algorithm descriptions directly in this new format. The editor can migrate existing descriptions from the old format to the new format. This is not necessary immediately, but it is recommended. In this way, the editor helps to improve the quality of the register. Help with migration is available.
October 2023
For editors:
Download options have been expanded
The algorithm descriptions are available for download in single form and in bulk in Microsoft Word, in Microsoft Excel, or as PDF from the web form.
The publication process has been accelerated
Publishing an algorithm description now takes place immediately after release by the editor.
The web form contains version control
Editors can now see who last edited the algorithm description(s) on the web form overview page.
The web form has been moved
After a test period, the web form has been moved to https://algorithms.overheid.nl/webformulier. This also applies to the delivery API, which has been moved to https://algorithms.overheid.nl/aanleverapi.