Ind.nl is the website of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service. Homepage scan: 40 requests total, 4 domains. This is a particularly sensitive category — the audience is vulnerable, and the subject matter concerns migration status — and the configuration matches that sensitivity. In-house web statistics are deployed on IND's own subdomain on the Piwik PRO platform and configured anonymously: the policy explicitly states that Piwik is configured so that the service cannot see who visits the site. Additionally, a support chatbot runs, helping with questions, and its cookie is only set if the user chooses to open the chat. The scan shows no Google Analytics, no Facebook, no advertising, no session recording, and no third-party advertising trackers. Not a single cookie was set during the session. No violations were recorded.
Timeline of the leak
Declared versus actual
Detected trackers
- Anonymized IND statistics (Piwik PRO)
- Seamly (support chatbot)
Context
www.ind.nl is the website of the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst): processing of residence permits, citizenship, and visas. The data controller is IND, a government body. This is a particularly sensitive category: visitors are foreign nationals and migrants, and the information concerns their legal status.
Scan: 40 requests to 4 domains, homepage, captured in a clean Edge browser without a VPN or ad blocker. The technical stack is minimal: in-house anonymized statistics and a support chatbot.
Who receives the data
There are no third-party advertising recipients.
Web statistics are deployed on IND’s own subdomain on the Piwik PRO platform and configured anonymously. Additionally, a support chatbot runs, helping visitors with questions. The scan shows no Google Analytics, no advertising networks, no social media pixels, and no session recording.
Was there a consent banner
A full banner for the statistics is not required here: it is configured anonymously. The policy explicitly states that Piwik is configured so that the service cannot see who visits the site, and that IP addresses are anonymized. Such statistics are exempt from consent.
The chatbot is set up correctly from a consent standpoint: its cookie is only set if the user chooses to open the chat. There was no chat interaction in this session, and not a single cookie was set during the session.
What fires before consent
Before any interaction, the following fire:
- anonymized IND statistics (Piwik PRO) — with no link to identity;
- support chatbot initialization — without setting a cookie.
Anonymized first-party statistics are exempt from consent, and the chatbot is a functional assistance tool whose cookie only appears when the chat is selected. The scan contains no advertising, no third-party trackers, and no session recording.
What works in the site’s favor
This is worth highlighting, given the sensitivity of the audience. On a site used by migrants processing their status, there is no third-party analytics, no advertising, no social media pixels, and no session recording. The statistics are anonymized to the point that the service, by its own statement, cannot identify the visitor. The chatbot, which helps with questions, does not set a cookie until the user actually starts the chat.
Conclusion
Ind.nl is a model of restraint for a sensitive government service. The immigration service’s site has no third-party analytics, no advertising, and no session recording — only in-house anonymized statistics and a functional support chatbot that does not set a cookie until the user chooses to chat. The key takeaway for the reader: when a vulnerable audience is involved, the absence of tracking is the right choice, and here it is applied consistently — down to the fact that the statistics are configured anonymously by the service’s own account. No violations were recorded.
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