E-MAIL:POLITICAL PARTIES have been warned they will be breaking the law if they use personal data they collect to send unsolicited text messages or e-mails during the election campaign.
Data protection commissioner Billy Hawkes has written to the parties to caution them about how they use data they collect to communicate with individuals by text, e-mail or phone.
Mr Hawkes said yesterday he had received “numerous complaints” about such contacts from parties and candidates during previous election campaigns.
“In many cases, the individual had no previous contact with the political party or candidate and was concerned at the manner in which their details were sourced,” he said in a statement.
Investigations revealed contact details were obtained from sources such as sports clubs, friends, colleagues and schools.
The commissioner has seen a steep rise in such complaints. About 20 were received in relation to the 2007 general election campaign, but this rose to 50 when the local elections were held in 2009.
Mr Hawkes said obtaining personal data in such circumstances would constitute a breach of the Data Protection Acts, as there would be no consent from the individual for their details to be obtained and used in this way.
Mr Hawkes said parties should not attempt to obtain or use contact information from third parties.
They should also avoid sending electoral messages to persons other than those – such as party members – who could “reasonably be assumed to consent to receipt of such messages”.
The commissioner is currently investigating complaints by two people about the receipt of unsolicited text messages from a candidate in the Donegal South West byelection campaign.
Fine Gael recently made changes to its website after concerns were raised about how it was collecting phone numbers, e-mail addresses and constituency information.
The site was hacked, compromising the details of about 2,000 people.
Data protection consultant Daragh O’Brien welcomed the commissioner’s statement. He said the websites of the main political parties were not compliant with their own privacy statements.