Dutch State Secretary Blocks US Takeover of Solvinity to Keep DigiD in Safe Hands
The state secretary for economic affairs has forbidden American IT firm Kyndryl from acquiring Solvinity, the company that runs the infrastructure behind DigiD, citing risks to national security.
The Dutch government has blocked the takeover of IT company Solvinity by the American firm Kyndryl, in a decision aimed at keeping the systems behind the country's digital identity service DigiD out of American hands. State secretary for economic affairs and climate Willemijn Aerdts announced the decision, which was taken on 25 May.
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Why Solvinity matters
Solvinity is the IT company that manages the infrastructure on which DigiD and MijnOverheid run. DigiD is the digital identity that almost everyone in the Netherlands uses to log in to government services, from the tax authority and municipalities to healthcare providers. The platform is hosted in a government data centre and is substantively managed by Logius, part of the Ministry of the Interior.
That central role is exactly what made the planned takeover so sensitive. Solvinity, originally a Dutch company, is currently in British hands. Had Kyndryl, a US company, acquired it, the data and systems would have come under American jurisdiction.
The security concern
The core worry, raised repeatedly in parliament, is that under US laws such as the Cloud Act, the American government could in principle demand access to the personal data of DigiD users, or, if Washington wanted to put pressure on the Netherlands, block or shut down access to essential Dutch government services.
Aerdts based her decision on advice from the Bureau Toetsing Investeringen (BTI), the body that screens investments, mergers and acquisitions for national security risks. The BTI concluded that the takeover posed a risk, and the state secretary said blocking it was necessary “to protect the public interest.”
Months of political pressure
The takeover was announced in November 2025 and immediately triggered broad political resistance. Kyndryl was unable to take away the concerns, and a debate in the Tweede Kamer ended without resolution. Parliament, led by GroenLinks-PvdA MP Barbara Kathmann, passed a motion calling on the cabinet not to extend the DigiD hosting contract in 2028 if the takeover went ahead; only JA21 voted against.
Earlier in May, three citizens went to court to try to stop the government from extending the contract with Solvinity. A judge rejected their demand, ruling that a responsible switch to another provider would take six to eight months and that abruptly ending the contract would bring unacceptable risks for essential government services. The contract with Solvinity was therefore extended by two years.
A broader pattern
The decision fits a wider Dutch willingness to intervene in takeovers of companies deemed critical to national infrastructure. Last year, the previous economic affairs minister stepped into the Dutch holding of Chinese chipmaker Nexperia, a move that drew an angry response from Beijing. Observers note that the Solvinity case sends a clear signal: any Dutch technology company that plays a critical role in national digital infrastructure may now find that a foreign takeover is no longer straightforward.
The block also comes amid a broader push for “digital sovereignty” in the Netherlands, including recent moves by Dutch universities and the government to reduce their dependence on American big tech.