The Dutch Anti-Doping Policy Implementation Bill: privacy concerns

The Bill on regulations for the implementation of the anti-doping policy and for the establishment of the Doping Authority, otherwise known as the Anti-Doping Policy Implementation Bill, was submitted to the Dutch Lower House on 19 September 2016. The aim of the Bill is to strengthen action against doping in sport. The Bill has been drafted because there are doubts about whether the consent given by athletes constitutes an adequate basis for the processing of personal data in the context of doping controls. In order to allow it to process data in an alternative way in the context of doping controls, the Doping Authority is to become a legal entity governed by public law with a statutory task. There has been some criticism of the bill from the field. Michiel van Dijk and Amajanti van de Beek of CMS assess the criticism and whether the Bill will provide the solutions required or whether it may actually raise more questions and difficulties.