Case study

From legal document to understandable privacy statement

How do you make privacy statements understandable for more than 360,000 residents? The Municipality of Utrecht asked Patroon to transform their complex privacy statement into an accessible document. We developed an interactive privacy plaza that guides residents step by step through the various processing procedures.

Client

Municipality of Utrecht

Date

January 2024

Services

Information Design Legal Content Design

Website

https://www.utrecht.nl/bestuur-en-organisatie/privacy/privacyverklaring

From complex to clear

The municipality processes personal data in more than 90 different processes. From parking permits to social assistance applications. All these processes need to be clearly explained to residents. We therefore developed a new structure that is not based on the municipal organization, but on the resident's world.

In the privacy plaza, users can easily navigate to the situation that is relevant to them. Legal terms like 'Fiscal parking enforcement' and 'Administrative law instruments' were translated into understandable language without losing their legal meaning.

The result is a privacy statement that not only meets all legal requirements but is also truly understood by Utrecht residents. This makes privacy something tangible that fits with a modern, transparent government.

The insight provided to citizens and the scalability of this concept appeals to the jury: other municipalities can follow this example, which will help citizens quickly and easily understand what happens with their data.

We used B1-level language throughout. A term like "automated decision-making", which is quite essential in the GDPR, is not understood by the average person.