Data Protection Commissioner issues Election Warning
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The Data Protection Commissioner has written to political parties this week cautioning them about communicating with individuals by text, email or phone in the forthcoming General Election.
The Commissioner, Mr Billy Hawkes, advised candidates that they should avoid sending electoral messages to persons other than those who could “reasonably be assumed to consent to receipt of such messages”, such as party members for example.
The warning from the Commissioner comes in the wake of a large number of complaints following on from the June 2009 local election campaign, a lot of cases in which the individual had no prior contact with the political party and had voiced concern at the manner in which their details were sourced. Investigation into the complaints revealed that contact details had been obtained from third party sources such as friends, colleagues, sports clubs and schools. The Commissioner has advised the political parties not to attempt to obtain or use contact information from third parties in this way.
The restrictions placed on direct marketing by the Data Protection Acts do not apply however to direct mailing carried out in the course of political activities by a political party or its members. Candidates are permitted to send letters and leaflets to anyone on the Registrar of Electors.
