Tomorrow morning, a Dutch collection agency has threatened to post pictures of its most notorious individuals on YouTube, for the purpose of shaming them into making their payments.
The collection agency, Straetus, is based on Flevoland, and gave the individuals a one-month warning about the videos. The owner of the collection agency said it will blur the faces of the individuals and their license plates and that the agency’s clients are “100% behind” the strategy. There are about 40 individuals who will be part of the first round of videos.
The head of the Dutch association of collection associations decried the decision and the Dutch data protection agency questioned whether the videos would violate the privacy of those being shamed.
Newspapers have long published the mug shots of individuals arrested for drunk driving and other misdemeanor crimes as a means of trying to curb the behavior. But in today’s heightened world of privacy, it will be interesting to see if the videos actually go live and if they work.
