Needless to say, the Dutch DPA (Dutch Data Protection Authority) supports the need for the Government to take effective measures to combat terrorism. However, international treaties, European rules, the Dutch Constitution and other laws demand that new powers meet the joint criterion of usefulness and necessity. Legal protection must also be provided for. It may be necessary to venture out in different directions in the battle against the new terrorism, but there is no reason to give up the view that exercise of power and law enforcement must take place within a system of checks and balances: no powers without demonstrable necessity and no powers without the use of these powers being monitored.