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Frequently asked questions

  • I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?

    The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.

    On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.

  • I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?

    To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.

  • The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?

    To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.

  • Why is my domain name in quarantine?

    When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.

    One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.

  • Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?

    Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.

  • What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?

    Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.

More frequently asked questions

“New app explains hard-to-follow letters in easy language”

SIDN Fund supports the Lees Simpel pioneering project

Close up of a phone with the Lees Simpel app on it
  • Monday 27 November 2023

Letters from the Tax Service, local authorities and others often contain very important information. But that information doesn't reach many of the people it's meant for, because they can't understand the complex language that the letters are written in. And it's not only the 2.5 million people in the Netherlands with weak literacy skills who are affected. No fewer than 30 per cent of the population say that local authority correspondence is difficult to follow. Now, however, there's an app that's specially designed to help: Lees Simpel uses artificial intelligence (AI) to explain what letters say in everyday language. Hester Benedictus, who came up with the idea and helped develop the app, talks about the project and the support provided by SIDN Fund.

Hester Benedictus, initiator of the Lees Simpel app

Hester Benedictus, creator of the Lees Simpel app.

Amsterdam AI Hackathon

Hester spent some years working for the City of Amsterdam as a policy advisor. "During my time with the city, letters written in inaccessible language that lots of people couldn't understand were a common problem. As I saw it, it was the people writing the letters who were at fault, not the readers. When I heard that an AI hackathon was being organised, I decide to take along my idea for tackling the letter problem. In the space of 24 hours, a team of programmers and designers developed my concept into a working prototype app capable of explaining difficult letters. We called our app Lees Simpel, meaning 'read simply', and it won a prize in the 'most mind blowing' category."

The team that developed the Lees Simpel app during an AI Hackathon Amsterdam

The team that developed the Lees Simpel app during the AI Hackathon Amsterdam. (From left to right: Niels Hoogendoorn, Lucas Meijer, Hester Benedictus, Tycho Litjens and Erwin Russel. Hugo Visser (not in the photo) is the sixth team member, he created the app for Android.)

Lees Simpel

"The user simply has to take a photo of a letter, and the app immediately delivers a summary written in easy language," explains Hester. "We started with the iPhone version, which quickly got a lot of media exposure and the first user feedback. The thing we heard most was that people were disappointed that there wasn't an Android version! So our next step was to get the Android version out as soon as possible. To begin with, it was mainly 'techies' who picked up the app, but it's now being used by the target audience and associated organisations, such as neighbourhood teams, language houses and libraries. The app now has 38,000 users and has made 85,000 letters more understandable."

Mieke van Heeswijk, Programme Manager at SIDN Fund: "Lees Simpel is a great example of AI for Good: a user-friendly, privacy-sensitive tool for turning opaque texts into understandable language, which has great potential for helping a large number of people in the Netherlands. The level of interest in Lees Simpel underscores the need it fulfils. SIDN Fund is therefore very proud to have played a role in facilitating its development."

Stress caused by letters

"A health care organisation currently has a pilot scheme running to test the app," Hester continues. "They're interested in it because a lot of their clients find health care-related personal admin stressful. People get anxious about getting to grips with or even opening official-looking letters. We hope that Lees Simpel can reduce that sort of stress by making it easier for people to see what a letter is about and what the reader is being asked to do. It's crazy, really, that an app like ours is needed. After all, the letters that organisations send out should be easy for everyone to understand. They shouldn't need converting into simple language. So we're very pleased to hear that the app is now coming to the attention of letter writers. More and more people are using the app to test and simplify their letters before sending them out. That's great, because of course the problem of hard-to-follow letters is best tackled at source."

SIDN Fund

"After the AI hackathon, we needed financial support to get our project off the ground," says Hester. "Covering the cost of the AI was the main challenge we faced. So we decided to apply to SIDN Fund for a grant. That turned out to be a very good move. As well as providing financial assistance, SIDN Fund gave us a platform. They helped to raise the app's profile by drawing it to the attention of their network. For example, we got the opportunity to showcase the app to a large audience at Dutch Design Week.

Plans for the future

The Lees Simpel app is made available to users free of charge. "We're keen to keep it free," Hester explains, "because our typical user has to count every penny. And our goal is to help as many people as possible, not to make money. For the moment, SIDN Fund's support is enabling us to keep the servers running. However, we need a way of assuring the app's availability going forward. We're therefore looking for partners who are prepared to support this initiative by, for example, donating simplified letters. After all, every simplification costs a few cents. We'd also like to add new functions, such as text-to-voice conversion and translation into other languages. Another idea is to develop a tool specially for writers, so as to reduce the number of hard-to-follow letters that get sent in the first place."

If you'd like to know more about Lees Simpel, drop Hester a line by mailing hester@leessimpel.nl.

More great projects supported by SIDN Fund

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