The ever-growing use of networked computers and databases makes life considerably easier. However, this also makes it easier to keep an eye on citizens. The average Dutch person is registered on 250 to 500 databases. Is the Netherlands “sleepwalking into a surveillance society”? Four years ago, a Big Brother Award was granted to the Dutch citizen: “He is the biggest threat to privacy according to the jury. Due to indifference – ‘I have nothing to hide’ – and lack of interest in what happens to their personal data, citizens share responsibility for the disappearance of privacy in the Netherlands.”3 This report deals with an example of a database system that threatens privacy: the new electronic payment system for Dutch public transport. The reaction that this system has provoked shows that Dutch citizens seem to be slowly waking up.