May 13, 2026
Crisis clicks, corporate crumbs
Dutch suicide prevention website shares data with tech companies without consent
Visitors went looking for help — and commenters say their privacy got thrown under the bus
TLDR: A Dutch suicide prevention website reportedly shared visitor data with tech companies, including Google, even when people hadn’t agreed. Commenters were furious, calling it invasive and especially cruel because the people affected may have been seeking help in a moment of crisis.
The internet reaction to this story was basically one giant collective scream. A Dutch suicide prevention site, 113, reportedly shared visitor data with outside tech companies, including Google, without permission in some cases — and the comments came in with all the warmth of a slammed door. The shortest review of the scandal may also be the most devastating: “Hate this.” Honestly? That set the tone.
What really sent people spiraling was the idea that simply visiting a crisis help page could expose deeply personal clues: where someone was, what device they used, what site they came from, and even screen recordings of their visit. Commenters were especially horrified by that last part, with one calling screen recordings a “massive violation” that most people don’t even realize is possible. That’s the real drama here: not just data collection, but the feeling that vulnerable people may have been tracked at the exact moment they were trying to reach out for help.
There was also a frustrated side-debate: is 113 uniquely awful, or just caught doing what too many websites quietly do? One commenter argued this kind of tracking is sadly common, but added the obvious gut punch — it feels far worse when it happens at a site with a life-or-death social mission. Others weren’t interested in nuance at all, zeroing in on the moral absurdity of exposing “one of the most vulnerable groups in our community.” No memes, no goofy jokes this time — just disbelief, anger, and a very loud why would anyone think this was okay?
Key Points
- •BNR reported that Stichting 113 shared website visitor data with third parties without consent, based on research by ethical hacker Mick Beer.
- •The reported shared data included location, browser, device, referral website information, and screen recordings of visits to the 113 website.
- •Google reportedly received visitor data even without cookie consent, while certain data was shared with Microsoft only when cookies had been accepted.
- •The article says the data sharing likely violated the GDPR because contact with an anonymous suicide prevention hotline is treated as medical personal data requiring extra protection.
- •Stichting 113 said no substantive chat or conversation content was shared, disabled all measurement and analysis tools, and started an investigation into the incident and its impact.