Electoral Roll changes - and massive privacy violation.

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People are probably aware of the recent changes to the electoral roll system. What they probably aren't aware of is that recent changes meant that those on the closed register may have been transferred to the open register without their knowledge or explicit written consent.

The open register is extensively used by marketers, which is why so many people have opted for the closed register.

How this happened:

Up until this year, people had to be reenrolled annually. Many councils sent out their forms with the "I want to be on the closed register" preticked.

The Electoral Commission decided a few years back that people on the private register must opt back in annually. They didn't bother publicising this.

Late in 2013 they _ordered_ local authorities to stop sending out preticked forms. Following from that they also told local authorities that any forms which came back with "No changes" on them, which didn't have the "I want to opt out" box ticked, must be moved to the open register - and that voters didn't need to be informed they had been moved to the open roll.

I'm sure most people can see the ramifications here. This is a breach of articles 1 2 and 4 of the Data Privacy principles - and I've been informed the ICO is now investigating several councils over data breach issues as a result.


What really amazes me is that media seems disinterested in the story - there's a potential here for hundred of thousands of people to have had their details published _without explicit written permission_ (Failure to check a tickbox isn't good enough - the ICO has threatened action on this kind of thing in the past, which is why almost all online signup forms default to the more private options)

What absolutely takes the biscuit is that a representative of the EC (the same one who confirmed what's happened above) stated that the EC's stance is that the open register is a breach of privacy and should go away in its entireity.

The stance stated is diametrically opposed to what they've told local authorities to do - and there was a very studied silence from both the EC secretary and the representative I was talking to when I asked if anyone had thought to run these changes past a privacy lawyer or the ICO.


Martin, et al: why aren't MSE and other privacy advocates jumping up and down in public about this? This has to be one of the largest unauthorised data leaks made by the UK government in the last decade.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

No, round our parish, you opt every year. No problemo.

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Having opted out of publication, you cannot legally be moved back into any published list without your explicit written permission. Missing a check box isn't good enough - and that's according to the ICO.

The whole "You must opt out of the open register every year" policy is legally questionable in the first place.

StaffieTerrier

I've had a letter from my local council telling me that I'm not on the open register. I have to contact them to opt on to the open register.

mije1983

I must be lucky then. My recent letter about the changes states that I need do nothing as I have been re-registered, and my information is NOT on the open register. It says if I wish to be included on the open register, I need to opt-in by contacting them.

halibut2209

mije1983 wrote: »

I must be lucky then. My recent letter about the changes states that I need do nothing as I have been re-registered, and my information is NOT on the open register. It says if I wish to be included on the open register, I need to opt-in by contacting them.

Same with me

frugal_mike

Yes, my recent letter said there would no longer be yearly letters for re-enrollment. It's now up to individuals to notify them of changes.

Cyberman60

I opted out by phone yesterday as I don't want any more cold calling than I already get !!! :mad:

The_Pedant

I know at least one council had problems with the recent mailings. They sent out letters informing them they were on the open register, when they were not. As a result they've had to correct the letter & redo the mailing.

stoatwblr

mije1983 wrote: »

I must be lucky then.

The most recent changes (re-registration) explicitly keep you in the closed register if you were already in it.

With the new system you won't have to reregister every year.

The semantic changes that the EC has been playing date back to September 2013-March 2014 when the last round of reregistration occured.

IE: these unauthorised roll changes occured earlier this year. Many council electroal registrars took one look at the EC's instructions, said to themselves "This isn't legal"(*) and didn't toggle people into the open register by default, but a significant fraction of local authorities just did what they were told without thinking about the DPA implications.

The issue is (of course) that the first many people who believe they're on the closed register will know that isn't the case is when they get their letter informing them that they've been transferred into the new system



(*) I have spoken to a few registrars in the SE - at least one sought legal advice before refusing to so what the EC told him to do, another just refused to do it because he believed it would leave his employers with the legal liability.

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The_Pedant wrote: »

I know at least one council had problems with the recent mailings. They sent out letters informing them they were on the open register, when they were not. As a result they've had to correct the letter & redo the mailing.

In my case, I got the letter stating I was on the open register, when I had a letter from about 10 years ago stating I was on the closed one and that letter made _no_ mention of having to renew that preference every year.

My council electoral offices confirmed that I had been toggled over in March's renewals, despite signing "no changes", because the EC had told them to do this.

The EC also told local authorities that they didn't have to notify people they had been changed from the closed to open registers.