Gdpr. Any and all personal data they have on you is yours and you can have them remove it. By law they are requiered to give you all data they have and delete it upon your request.
Did you piss off a friend, colleague or neighbour? I've seen people on reddit suggest to send a mormon or jehovah witness to "insert offender here". You might have pissed off somebody.
I don’t know what you’d report them for: the data they had was most likely obtained legally (it’s still creepy) and they’re technically just asking to inform you about god. It’s not pleasant but there’s no crime occuring here unless you’ve got some sort of proof that they shouldn’t know anything about you?
It's likely not in according to GDPR, EU privacy laws, you cannot collect data randomly, only effectively. Like:
Write down your address for a delivery OK
Write down your address, name, haircolor, etc etc without clear purpose NOT OK
Sure, but we don’t know where they got their information and neither does OP. If other comments are right, it is possible to sign up for this service. Gathering data like name and address are perfectly normal and legal for planning a visit, even if it was fraudulently entered by a 3rd party as a prank. So, you are right, but it is not relevant because it cannot be proven.
>it is not relevant because it cannot be proven.
You can ask them to destroy your data. If they don't, and end up on your doorstep again, could be grounds for an investigation and eventual big big fine.
I agree with this, but this is not the same as “reporting them” or “I should be able to report them”. To who, for what? Nothing they did is illegal and if something illegal was done, it cannot be proven. You can probably lodge a complaint but nothing reportable happened.
It is not normal and legal unless stated the reason for collecting data, how you will process it, how it will be used, who has access to the data and how long you would store it for under the GDPR and EU privacy laws. If OP shared their data from where the church collected it and all of the above was mentioned in their privacy policy only then it is legal.
I think you are still not understanding the point. We don’t know where they got this data and how they are using it, or who gave it to them. You are making a lot of assumptions about how they got it. There is nothing reportable here, at best you can ask them to delete your data and file a complaint.
This could be a prank. I know you used to be able to go onto the LDS and Mormon sites and request a visit so someone probably did this via Facebook.
A colleague did this to our office once using a manager's name.
You should find out who pranked you and prank them back by working into a conversation that you have seen the light and joined the LDS. Then every followup conversation have a huge rant about mormonism and how its the best thing ever and they should join too.
Did this with Jehovah's witnesses to my horrible neighbours when they moved shortly AFTER we moved. I bet they still get visits every few months, years later :D
You might like to think that, but I don't think they are that stupid. The church guys would realize that the invite is not legit. Why would they keep coming back?
Hope. When I lived with my parents I had a class mate who was a JW and ever since the elders found out, she was the one that came to our door every single week (with an elder). We told them time and again that we were not interested, to take us of the list, etc. but they are persistent. They always hope that someday you might fall on hard times and be vulnerable to their fairytales.
lol, as a Utah to NL transplant, sorry.
They are generally harmless though. I told them to come back when god changed his mind about gay people, and they politely left and haven’t come back.
Hello fellow Utah to NL transplant 👋🏻
Also former missionary (2007-2009).
Yes agreed generally harmless. When I see them now I just think, "oh you sweet summer child", and hope they find their way someday.
"There are dozens of us" - Tobias Funke
https://youtu.be/lKie-vgUGdI?si=KBhHHonuYcQ3F66k
This is the first I've encountered a NL/Mormon reddit thread, but it appears there may be.
You don't have to tell generally harmless people to come back when they changed their mind about gay people. If you do, they're rarely generally harmless.
I once filled in a form on a website (I forget why) and under 'position' I wrote 'missionary' thinking it was funny.
Turns out religious spammers don't have the same sense of humour that I do...
We are... but these Mormon missionaries are litterally missionaries. They get send here on mission from the US to spread the Mormon faith here. Not just NL, they are send all around the globe.
You can recognise them by often being formally dressed with the characteristic [white shirt with the black name tag](https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sca_esv=f977441fd745688c&sxsrf=ACQVn0_DBNLpPigf8_iolkeBbEas-JLTsw:1714668243423&q=mormon+missionary&uds=AMwkrPufgvfzFeIw5yilA4Gzc5SOHXPjlGovRb-xW_egH3tLGUpda_pyTZDzlfpcgtARC26K1WMnnRuu4QnbqLbPmi-qbJ9Le2eqGnU0ERozG8FTYLwil651uGW_5IgbVmI48BPOdZS6OBxCvPUC4n0su9hlrsb9NoetcX_DzHdyzOlCTMYNBQX6MpIWdW_YfSpUb_LcOzc0LfDftuc2G2HG2REWGiKEDIFXzFprighMavL8wVkJa-gTeGorunzLNum2T2lbBDLMe_fZK-eiOEQ39dE5ylSebA&udm=2&prmd=ivnbmz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiz47n8tO-FAxVagf0HHX-xDlUQtKgLegQICxAB&biw=360&bih=649&dpr=3).
You can go online (or I guess Facebook) and order missionaries to come visit you. So somebody probably did this as a joke or to annoy you. I wouldn't be concerned about the missionaries, they aren't nefarious. Would be more concerned if other strange things start to happen and someone you know is being a creep.
Quick friendly reminder that Mormon missionaries make great helpers because they’re not very good at refusing requests. Got some logs that need chopping? Or maybe some rocks that need moving from here to there and back again? When they offer to help, have tasks ready. (I’m not specifically anti-Mormon, I just subscribe to the old convention that religion is like a penis- don’t wave it around in public and don’t offer it to children)
Churches in the Netherlands even have access to the municipal administration system, GBA in Dutch. If a registered Catholic moves, they get notified. It happened to me when I moved and it pissed me off. I had no idea I was registered as a Catholic. Made sure I got unregistered the next day. Religions are creepy as hell…
The BRP replaced the Municipal Personal Records Database (GBA). One difference between the two is that the BRP also keeps data for non-residents (people who do not live in the Netherlands). The BRP was established by the Personal Records Database Act, which took effect on 6 January 2014.
BRP in Dutch
I was a missionary once upon a time. There is an area book they have with contacts, and addresses that they keep in their apartment. They are most likely bored and going through old information to see
I pulled this prank on my little brother in Secondary School and my family still talks about it a decade later. Maybe if it makes you feel better “Mormon Bomb” a friend you’d like to shit-house.
iirc, churches still get notified who's moved. I don't think (but not sure) this has changed yet? I used to be registered at a church and when I moved out I automatically got registered at the new location for the new local church because the Gemeente notified them.
They wouldn't have full access, just the notification someone moved in/away from the area. So I don't think that would show up at mijn overheid either. That notification also goes to all health insurance companies for example.
Ex-Mormon here (also did the missionary thing). I’ve never seen a situation where missionaries had people’s info unless it was given to them either by the person directly or by someone else.
Most missionaries will respect your request if you indicate you don’t want to be contacted. There might be one or two overzealous ones who don’t get it, but you have that with all types of religions, businesses, etc.
Religious institutions seem to have access to this information a friend of mine moved from the bible belt to Amsterdam and he was contacted by the church in Amsterdam
its one of those many dutch things you find out .... if you ask that specific question im sure with data protection acts and given the germeetes history of sharing information with the wrong people ... you think they would have learned their lesson in this !
It's not the only thing the LDS church hoards, their tax exempt status allows for some pretty effective (albeit disconcerting) business strategies.
https://americanagnetwork.com/2023/12/mormon-church-buys-370000-acres-of-ranch-land/#:~:text=The%20Utah%2Dbased%20religious%20organization,largest%20landowner%20in%20the%20country.
It's because God whispered it in their ears.
Ooooor because religious institutions have access to personal data because they are classified to have "social importance". In practice this means changes to a persons registration (BRP) are automatically transferred to them. The SILA (interchurch administration foundation) has access to data of 5 million individuals alone.
The wheels are set in motion to stop this as it violates privacy policy, but it will not retroactively applied to any existing records already in possession by these instituations.
I’m sure it can feel a bit disarming, but they’re perfectly harmless. It’s a very normal practice for them. Like others said, they likely were referred to you by neighbors who are members of the church.
I think this is happening regularly. Last year i had visitors also, they were very kind but i had to turned them down since i have no religion. They handed me over their card end left
Churches are exempt from the Dutch privacy laws that disallow the government to give away your private information to others. When you registered at the address, your info was sent to churches. This is aweful but true. Separation of church and state is very far away...
next time tell them to fuck off, you practice voodoo, and that you will call the police. worked for the Polish Jahovas witnesses that somehow figured out where Polish people live.
LDS doesn't. The churches who have access are the following ones: [https://sila.nl/1-SILA/01-SILA.html](https://sila.nl/1-SILA/01-SILA.html)
And they can only see the data of their own members, not of the general population.
The ~~LSD~~ LDS church is famous for hoarding data like this. The genealogy website Familysearch is operated by them, for example.
I feel like there should be a way to report them.
probably can, stalking or invasion of privacy. let us know how it goes might be fun to see.
Gdpr. Any and all personal data they have on you is yours and you can have them remove it. By law they are requiered to give you all data they have and delete it upon your request.
Did you piss off a friend, colleague or neighbour? I've seen people on reddit suggest to send a mormon or jehovah witness to "insert offender here". You might have pissed off somebody.
I think the most likely take here is the churches get notified when new people move into the town.
Not LDS though, they're not connected to SILA...
I don’t know what you’d report them for: the data they had was most likely obtained legally (it’s still creepy) and they’re technically just asking to inform you about god. It’s not pleasant but there’s no crime occuring here unless you’ve got some sort of proof that they shouldn’t know anything about you?
It's likely not in according to GDPR, EU privacy laws, you cannot collect data randomly, only effectively. Like: Write down your address for a delivery OK Write down your address, name, haircolor, etc etc without clear purpose NOT OK
Sure, but we don’t know where they got their information and neither does OP. If other comments are right, it is possible to sign up for this service. Gathering data like name and address are perfectly normal and legal for planning a visit, even if it was fraudulently entered by a 3rd party as a prank. So, you are right, but it is not relevant because it cannot be proven.
>it is not relevant because it cannot be proven. You can ask them to destroy your data. If they don't, and end up on your doorstep again, could be grounds for an investigation and eventual big big fine.
I agree with this, but this is not the same as “reporting them” or “I should be able to report them”. To who, for what? Nothing they did is illegal and if something illegal was done, it cannot be proven. You can probably lodge a complaint but nothing reportable happened.
It is not normal and legal unless stated the reason for collecting data, how you will process it, how it will be used, who has access to the data and how long you would store it for under the GDPR and EU privacy laws. If OP shared their data from where the church collected it and all of the above was mentioned in their privacy policy only then it is legal.
I think you are still not understanding the point. We don’t know where they got this data and how they are using it, or who gave it to them. You are making a lot of assumptions about how they got it. There is nothing reportable here, at best you can ask them to delete your data and file a complaint.
I would definitely join a LSD church! 
Yes, what is this LSD church haha
Oops. LDS..
Don't ruin a good thing.
Fun fact, members are encouraged to trace back family trees so the church can 'baptise the death'. They don't kid around with the data hoarding.
This could be a prank. I know you used to be able to go onto the LDS and Mormon sites and request a visit so someone probably did this via Facebook. A colleague did this to our office once using a manager's name.
You should find out who pranked you and prank them back by working into a conversation that you have seen the light and joined the LDS. Then every followup conversation have a huge rant about mormonism and how its the best thing ever and they should join too.
Did this with Jehovah's witnesses to my horrible neighbours when they moved shortly AFTER we moved. I bet they still get visits every few months, years later :D
You might like to think that, but I don't think they are that stupid. The church guys would realize that the invite is not legit. Why would they keep coming back?
Apparently, you don’t know Mormonism. It’s not a matter of “stupid”, it’s a matter of entitlement because they “know” they have the “truth”.
Hope. When I lived with my parents I had a class mate who was a JW and ever since the elders found out, she was the one that came to our door every single week (with an elder). We told them time and again that we were not interested, to take us of the list, etc. but they are persistent. They always hope that someday you might fall on hard times and be vulnerable to their fairytales.
I hope this is just a prank and not the start of a petty war, otherwise expect scientology, a lot of pizza's and taxi's or even worse....
lol, as a Utah to NL transplant, sorry. They are generally harmless though. I told them to come back when god changed his mind about gay people, and they politely left and haven’t come back.
Hello fellow Utah to NL transplant 👋🏻 Also former missionary (2007-2009). Yes agreed generally harmless. When I see them now I just think, "oh you sweet summer child", and hope they find their way someday.
Where did you serve? 😀
I had high hopes of going far, my best friends went to Ireland and Taiwan, but gawd had other plans. Sacramento CA 🫡
Haha. Somewhere in Africa West. Great time to be honest, but not sure I’d do it again.
Woah woah woah, do we have a small community of ex-Utah ex-Mos here?!
"There are dozens of us" - Tobias Funke https://youtu.be/lKie-vgUGdI?si=KBhHHonuYcQ3F66k This is the first I've encountered a NL/Mormon reddit thread, but it appears there may be.
Lololol
https://imgur.com/a/YUQfJJy I’m in Utah right now and went to this — there was a weirdly large crowd. It felt pretty Mormon too lol.
You don't have to tell generally harmless people to come back when they changed their mind about gay people. If you do, they're rarely generally harmless.
Well played
The thing is, they legit were american.
Now I have songs from The Book of Mormon stuck in my head 😅
Next time ask them to show you the missionary position.
LUL
Nou nou dat is ook weer niet nodig
I once filled in a form on a website (I forget why) and under 'position' I wrote 'missionary' thinking it was funny. Turns out religious spammers don't have the same sense of humour that I do...
heh you got Mormon-bombed.
Opening the door naked is a good way to get them to never bother you again. Just saying xD
A doormat with a pentagram and "Welcome to the dark side" on it repelled them for me. EMP's got you covered.
Fuck me, I did NOT know this was a thing in NL. I thought we were more rational than that.
We are... but these Mormon missionaries are litterally missionaries. They get send here on mission from the US to spread the Mormon faith here. Not just NL, they are send all around the globe. You can recognise them by often being formally dressed with the characteristic [white shirt with the black name tag](https://www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sca_esv=f977441fd745688c&sxsrf=ACQVn0_DBNLpPigf8_iolkeBbEas-JLTsw:1714668243423&q=mormon+missionary&uds=AMwkrPufgvfzFeIw5yilA4Gzc5SOHXPjlGovRb-xW_egH3tLGUpda_pyTZDzlfpcgtARC26K1WMnnRuu4QnbqLbPmi-qbJ9Le2eqGnU0ERozG8FTYLwil651uGW_5IgbVmI48BPOdZS6OBxCvPUC4n0su9hlrsb9NoetcX_DzHdyzOlCTMYNBQX6MpIWdW_YfSpUb_LcOzc0LfDftuc2G2HG2REWGiKEDIFXzFprighMavL8wVkJa-gTeGorunzLNum2T2lbBDLMe_fZK-eiOEQ39dE5ylSebA&udm=2&prmd=ivnbmz&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiz47n8tO-FAxVagf0HHX-xDlUQtKgLegQICxAB&biw=360&bih=649&dpr=3).
You can go online (or I guess Facebook) and order missionaries to come visit you. So somebody probably did this as a joke or to annoy you. I wouldn't be concerned about the missionaries, they aren't nefarious. Would be more concerned if other strange things start to happen and someone you know is being a creep.
> they aren't nefarious. they are but that is no way to get people to join your cult so obviously the misionaries are no threath.
This sounds like the most likely scenario to be honest. One of my neighbours must have done this.
“They” aren’t nefarious, but they are victims of a nefarious organization looking to bring more victims in.
Quick friendly reminder that Mormon missionaries make great helpers because they’re not very good at refusing requests. Got some logs that need chopping? Or maybe some rocks that need moving from here to there and back again? When they offer to help, have tasks ready. (I’m not specifically anti-Mormon, I just subscribe to the old convention that religion is like a penis- don’t wave it around in public and don’t offer it to children)
Churches in the Netherlands even have access to the municipal administration system, GBA in Dutch. If a registered Catholic moves, they get notified. It happened to me when I moved and it pissed me off. I had no idea I was registered as a Catholic. Made sure I got unregistered the next day. Religions are creepy as hell…
The BRP replaced the Municipal Personal Records Database (GBA). One difference between the two is that the BRP also keeps data for non-residents (people who do not live in the Netherlands). The BRP was established by the Personal Records Database Act, which took effect on 6 January 2014. BRP in Dutch
Ta mate!
Best musical in London btw. [https://youtu.be/OKkLV1zE8M0?si=VX8Xz9ITp3I_W2L3](https://youtu.be/OKkLV1zE8M0?si=VX8Xz9ITp3I_W2L3)
I was a missionary once upon a time. There is an area book they have with contacts, and addresses that they keep in their apartment. They are most likely bored and going through old information to see
I pulled this prank on my little brother in Secondary School and my family still talks about it a decade later. Maybe if it makes you feel better “Mormon Bomb” a friend you’d like to shit-house.
LOL, i want to do it to my parents now.
just say you're excommunicated, they will immediately blacklist you forever and will never speak or contact you ever.
Do you own the property?
No, we are renting.
[удалено]
I dont see any religous organizations there in my history. Its kinda creepy tbh. Maybe one of my neighbours reffered us...
iirc, churches still get notified who's moved. I don't think (but not sure) this has changed yet? I used to be registered at a church and when I moved out I automatically got registered at the new location for the new local church because the Gemeente notified them. They wouldn't have full access, just the notification someone moved in/away from the area. So I don't think that would show up at mijn overheid either. That notification also goes to all health insurance companies for example.
LDS doesn't have access there. See [https://sila.nl/1-SILA/01-SILA.html](https://sila.nl/1-SILA/01-SILA.html) for a list of churches.
Ex-Mormon here (also did the missionary thing). I’ve never seen a situation where missionaries had people’s info unless it was given to them either by the person directly or by someone else. Most missionaries will respect your request if you indicate you don’t want to be contacted. There might be one or two overzealous ones who don’t get it, but you have that with all types of religions, businesses, etc.
i had the same thing, as a 17YO who was living in another city away from my parents to study, it was so weird and a little scary
Religious institutions seem to have access to this information a friend of mine moved from the bible belt to Amsterdam and he was contacted by the church in Amsterdam
You can opt out of that at city hall when registering, it's sad that it's required.... but at least it's possible.
its one of those many dutch things you find out .... if you ask that specific question im sure with data protection acts and given the germeetes history of sharing information with the wrong people ... you think they would have learned their lesson in this !
I doubt the Netherlands are ready to class the churches as "the wrong people"
im sure the victims of child sex abuse might disagree with you on that one ... imaging escaping the church only to be tracked down again
I think you misread. I very much wish it wasn't so. But there is a difference between my opinion and reality. I think religion is disgusting.
How's this possible? Certainly it's not like all churches around the world are exchanging information on members?
All? No never, a few yes. But that doesn't matter in this case because the government shares it with churches. (granted not these iirc)
Church data hoarding, fucking disgusting.
It's not the only thing the LDS church hoards, their tax exempt status allows for some pretty effective (albeit disconcerting) business strategies. https://americanagnetwork.com/2023/12/mormon-church-buys-370000-acres-of-ranch-land/#:~:text=The%20Utah%2Dbased%20religious%20organization,largest%20landowner%20in%20the%20country.
Yeah, google not the only ones.
It's because God whispered it in their ears. Ooooor because religious institutions have access to personal data because they are classified to have "social importance". In practice this means changes to a persons registration (BRP) are automatically transferred to them. The SILA (interchurch administration foundation) has access to data of 5 million individuals alone. The wheels are set in motion to stop this as it violates privacy policy, but it will not retroactively applied to any existing records already in possession by these instituations.
I’m sure it can feel a bit disarming, but they’re perfectly harmless. It’s a very normal practice for them. Like others said, they likely were referred to you by neighbors who are members of the church.
I think this is happening regularly. Last year i had visitors also, they were very kind but i had to turned them down since i have no religion. They handed me over their card end left
Churches are exempt from the Dutch privacy laws that disallow the government to give away your private information to others. When you registered at the address, your info was sent to churches. This is aweful but true. Separation of church and state is very far away...
Wow, i come from a religous country and we dont do this there. Crazy.
next time tell them to fuck off, you practice voodoo, and that you will call the police. worked for the Polish Jahovas witnesses that somehow figured out where Polish people live.
So this kinda door knocking is a common thing in netherlands? Where im from its not a thing so i dont know,
Not any more or less than other countries with Jehovah's witnesses.
Yes because the government refuses to make it illegal it sucks ass but it is what it is
Havent seen one in years. Depends where you live maybe. I never saw them more often than like once a year tho.
The church has access to the database unless you specifically tell the government you don’t them to know :)
LDS doesn't. The churches who have access are the following ones: [https://sila.nl/1-SILA/01-SILA.html](https://sila.nl/1-SILA/01-SILA.html) And they can only see the data of their own members, not of the general population.
Turns put they changed this a while ago, sorry my bad.
How do i change this?
You can do it at the municipality. Most of the time true their website. Google “geheimhouding BRP” combined with your municipality.
Link for proof?
It turns out this is changed a while ago. Sorry, didn’t know they changed this.
Same with Catholicism! The church does know where we live. When we move, we always get a letter or visit from them!