Publisher of Debt Name-and-Shame Website Accused of Payment Default

By Joe Figueiredo

BNR Nieuwsradio, a Dutch radio broadcaster, has reported that Hans van Heertum still owes it ?6,000 for radio ads. The Dutch financial daily, Financieele Dagblad said he has not yet paid the paper ?2,000 for a 2003 ad. And De Telegraaf, another daily, claims Mr Van Heertum has other outstanding debts.

Nothing really out of the ordinary, one might add, except that Mr Van Heertum runs a website, Incassoregister.nl, that names and shames bad debtors.

Incassoregister.nl also maintains an online database on defaulters, to which debt-collection agencies, bailiffs and other business can subscribe.

Mr. Van Heertum said that only systematic non-payers – over 12,000 businesses in the Netherlands, he claims – will be shamed to improve the overall payment attitude in the Netherlands.

However, the website does not make distinguish between big and small bad-debtors. ?It is simple to retrieve the personal details of one-man businesses. Furthermore, such a list can cause disproportionate damage,? said a spokesperson for CBP, the Dutch data protection agency, which is currently investigating Mr. Van Heertum to see if he has broken any privacy laws or regulations.