Sources and data we use
Hiermelden uses public data, information from councils and residents’ reports. This page explains where that data comes from and how we use it.
Councils and municipal boundaries
We use municipal areas from the Dutch Cadastre through PDOK, which provides public geographic data. We store the council name, municipal code and boundary. We use the boundary to determine which council a selected location belongs to, rather than relying only on the council name in an address.
Address search
The PDOK Location Server finds addresses and their map coordinates. It also helps find an address for a selected map location. Your search or selected location is sent to PDOK. On a council page, we only search for addresses within that council’s area.
The background map
Map images come from OpenStreetMap by default. Its contributors create the map data. The data is available under the Open Database License (ODbL), which sets conditions for using and sharing it. Municipal boundaries are shown separately using PDOK data.
Official council websites
We obtain council websites and official domain names from Overheid.nl’s Register of Government Organisations. A domain name is a website’s address. We use this information to link to council websites and compare email addresses with known council domains.
Information from connected organisations
Councils and connected organisations set the topics you can report and where reports are sent. They also provide logos, contact details, privacy information and explanations of known situations. Report statuses may come from their connected system or be changed by an administrator.
Residents’ reports
Residents select a location and topic and describe the problem. They may add a photo and contact details. This information comes from the resident; a report is not automatically a verified fact. Other visitors only see public information, such as the topic, status and approximate location.
Our own statistics
Hiermelden counts visits to council pages and how often someone selects a report location. These are our own counts, not official government statistics. With your permission, Matomo can also measure visits to public pages. Our privacy page explains this and your rights.
How current is the data?
We keep the data as up to date as possible. Municipal boundaries come from the most recent completed import. Addresses are looked up when you search. We also update council websites and domain names. Sources may still contain errors or be out of date. Please let us know if something is wrong.
Data and privacy
Not all data we use is public. Our privacy page explains what we store, who receives it and how to ask about your data.
Privacy and your reportIs something incorrect?
Tell us which page has the problem and what is incorrect. Do not share passwords or a private report link.
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