AI, surveillance and
public space

Media coverage · De Andere Krant

On 19 September, Erick Overveen and Hendriëlle de Groot published the Dutch-language article Heerlen voert digitale massasurveillance in. It discusses the planned combination of data, predictive analysis, possible feedback loops, profiling, transparency and democratic oversight.

The newspaper reports that the municipality twice declined to answer substantive questions about personal data, feedback loops and transparency. It also states that PULSE-TWIN was not submitted to the municipal council for a separate approval decision. These statements are journalistic findings attributed to the named source.

Interpretation. The headline and characterisations belong to De Andere Krant. This independent dossier records the publication as relevant external media coverage while continuing to distinguish official records, project intentions and open questions. The full newspaper pages are not reproduced here; this site links to the original article.

Municipality of Heerlen · committee meeting

During agenda item 10 of the Committee for Society and Welfare on 16 September, a public speaker said that information about PULSE-TWIN could not be found on the municipal website. She then pointed to this independent site and named Michel Peen as the concerned citizen who created it.

Official source: Committee for Society and Welfare meeting, 16 September 2026 ↗

“De beschikbare site is een site die niet gemaakt is door de gemeente, maar door een bezorgde burger met de naam Michel Peen.”

In English: the speaker said the available site was made not by the municipality, but by concerned citizen Michel Peen.

The committee also discussed concerns about privacy, profiling, transparency and citizen participation. Mayor Roel Wever defended continuing the project and said the municipality could intervene if ethical or legal boundaries were crossed. He also promised periodic information for the council.

Interpretation. The reference came from a public speaker; it is not formal municipal recognition or substantive endorsement of this dossier. It does show that the independent dossier is now being used in public political debate. Administrative commitments remain open to verification against implementation and disclosed records.

SVOB · webinar announced

The board of the Stichting Veilig Ontwerp en Beheer (SVOB) announced in a newsletter to members and subscribers that it will host a presentation and discussion on the European PULSE-TWIN project. The webinar is scheduled for Tuesday 29 September 2026 from 14:30 to 16:00 and concerns the project being carried out under the auspices of SVOB in Heerlen's Hoensbroek district.

The announcement says that substantive and practical information, including registration details, will follow in a forthcoming newsletter. As of 11 September, SVOB's public activities page did not yet contain a separate PULSE-TWIN announcement or registration link. This update therefore records only the announced date and format; further details will be checked and added once published.

House of Representatives · dossier discussed

The Standing Committee for Digital Affairs confirms that it received and discussed the 6 August citizen letter concerning PULSE-TWIN and the Municipality of Heerlen's Social Digital Twin. The committee decided that information from the letter may be used during the committee debate scheduled for 30 September 2026. MPs can read the letter in preparation and decide independently whether and how to use the information.

This is a formal parliamentary follow-up, not a substantive endorsement of the dossier. The committee states that the debate will not, in principle, address the individual matter and that the parliamentary schedule may still change. Michel Peen remains identified in the public PDF; his personal email address has been redacted.

Woo dossier 960865 complete

A second secure transfer contains precisely the previously missing records 01a and 01b, plus a technical transfer message. The SHA-256 values of both PDFs match the supplied checksum list. All sixteen numbered project records in the municipal inventory have therefore been received.

The application specifically describes a data warehouse, predictive analysis of crime patterns and hotspots, a Social Digital Twin, an AI Copilot for professionals, the Heerlen Heitje safety module and role-based access. It also identifies privacy, bias, stigmatisation and implementation risks.

The records set out plans and project commitments; they do not prove that every linkage or function is already operational. The public site copies contain additional redactions of the municipal signatory's name and signature. Michel Peen remains identified as requester and dossier author.

New official CBS sources

Statistics Netherlands (CBS) states that Heerlen and CBS have worked together through the Urban Data Center Heerlen since November 2016. On 1 January 2022 this was expanded into the CBS Data Centre Parkstad Limburg, bringing together researchers from CBS, seven Parkstad municipalities and the Parkstad Limburg regional authority to develop regional policy information.

The monitor for the National Programme Heerlen-Noord was commissioned and funded by the Municipality of Heerlen. It tracks indicators covering demography, housing, employment, education, safety and health. The 2026 update mainly covers reporting years from 2018 through 2024.

These official sources establish long-term data-driven policy cooperation and broad monitoring. They do not establish a direct technical or organisational link to PULSE-TWIN, the Social Digital Twin, individual-level monitoring or operational AI. Any such connection remains a separate open research question.

Clarification of Woo request 960865 submitted

In response to Heerlen's letter, the request is limited to PULSE-TWIN-related records from 1 January 2023 through 26 July 2026. It specifically seeks decisions and changes, system and data architecture, AI and human control, DPIA/ELSA and legal and security reviews, suppliers and contracts, pilots and evaluations.

The missing inventory records 01a and 01b were also requested. Heerlen was asked to resume processing, confirm receipt and provide a concrete timetable for phased partial decisions. Communication remains in writing only.

The public copy contains no home address, personal email addresses or BCC transmission data. The substance of the submitted clarification is unchanged. The Dutch original is authoritative; the English version is an unofficial reading translation.

Woo request 960865

The Municipality confirms that the 26 July 2026 Woo request concerns PULSE-TWIN, AI, the Social Digital Twin and digital surveillance. Heerlen describes the request as complex and overly broad, asks for written clarification by 18 September and suspends processing pending that clarification.

The transfer contains fourteen numbered project records, a municipal explanatory note, an inventory and the procedural letter. The technical transfer email has not been published. Additional privacy redactions were applied to the letter; the project records are published as anonymised by Heerlen.

This is not yet a decision on the current Woo request. The records describe ambitious project components, but Heerlen's note says that the Public Smart Safety Center was not immediately feasible at launch and that implementation may differ. The set does not prove that facial recognition, individual AI profiles or every described technology is operational. Records 01a and 01b, missing at that point, were supplied on 7 September.

New partner sources

A whitepaper by ICA, SVOB and the CPTED Research Group at Inholland University of Applied Sciences describes Heerlen's Social Digital Twin on page 23 as a combination of social and safety-related data. It refers to AI and language models such as GPT as support for analysis and recommendations.

An official Genk decision confirms approval of cooperation with Heerlen. A Piraeus decision confirms participation, a partner budget of €150,000 and the involvement of municipal directorates for information technology and European programmes.

The documents support the project objectives, international cooperation and administrative embedding. They do not establish that facial recognition, individual AI profiles or every described technology is operational. The public Piraeus extract is anonymised and based on a supplied machine translation; the Greek original remains authoritative.

Formal complaint registered

At 09:35, Michel received the first personal procedural response to the emails of 29 July and 20 August. The Municipality of Heerlen acknowledged the research report and seven questions, confirmed internal circulation and stated that it aims to answer the questions separately and substantively by the end of September 2026. This was not yet a substantive answer and it arrived after 27 August, the date stated in the reminder.

At 09:39, the prepared and previously announced formal complaint under Chapter 9 Awb was filed. The automated acknowledgement followed at 09:40. At 12:51, the complaint coordinator acknowledged receipt under reference 1017347. The letter states a six-week handling period and a possible four-week extension. The complaint concerns the preceding period of silence and the missed response date.

The sequence is stated precisely for transparency. Receipt, circulation and timeframes are now procedurally confirmed; substantive answers to the seven questions and the outcome of the complaint remain pending.

Dutch source documents: complaint ↗ · exhibits ↗ · receipt and follow-up ↗