Has democracy been disrupted? UK Conclusions on Data and Policy

The British Information Monitoring Organization says its investigation into the link between data analysis, social media and political campaigns is now "the most important of its kind by the data protection authorities ".

All major British political parties, the various factions of the Brexit referendum campaign – including an insurance company owned by Arron Banks, a leading supporter of holidays – data brokers and management companies, and even a company

Up to now, Facebook has been fined £ 500,000 by the Office of the Information Commissioner for disclosing user data to Cambridge Analytica – the maximum financial penalty provided by the data protection laws in effect during

But the OIC fired warning shots against several other entities because it fears "default voter monitoring".

Political Parties

Elizabeth Denham, the Information Commissioner, said that the OIC had been "astonished" by the amount of personal data held by major British parties.

According to the report, many political parties have purchased marketing lists and information on the lifestyle of data brokers "without due diligence" as to their activities. They also used third-party data analysis companies without verifying whether users had consented to their personal information being transmitted and used for political purposes.

ICO's concerns are further elaborated in a companion report entitled "Democracy Disrupted – Personal Information and Political Influence". These focus less on the volume of information collected and more on whether they have been legally treated and whether the "data subjects" knew that their personal data would be used for political purposes.

This is particularly relevant for information such as age, ethnicity and political trends, some of which may be considered sensitive data requiring additional legal safeguards.

The OIC sent 11 warning letters to major political parties and asked them to wait for data checks.

Brexit's Rival Campaigns

The report has more to say about the groups that have campaigned for the UK to leave the EU, although the remaining part does not make it happen unscathed.

The OIC stated established that AgrgregateIQ, a Canadian company used by Donald Trump's team during his US presidential candidacy, "had access to the personal data of the electors of the United Kingdom. Provided by the Vote Leave campaign. Vote Leave was the official pro-Brexit group.

He also studies "whether and how Vote Leave transferred personal data of British citizens outside the United Kingdom and if this was in violation of the Data Protection Act 1998 personal data were also processed from unfairly and unlawfully ".

The regulator further examines allegations that Cambridge Analytica was paid for "working on Ukip data in 2015, and that Leave.EU paid for this job". Leave.EU was the main unofficial pro-Brexit group. The OIC has issued a notice of information on Ukip, but Ukip has appealed to the court of information. This appeal was rejected and the regulator awaits Ukip 's response.

As for Remain, the OIC is still studying the collection and sharing of personal data by the official Remain campaign, better known as Britain's Stronger in Europe. Related data broker. "The concerns are similar and focused on consent and fair treatment. Britain's Stronger in Europe has denied" any irregularities "and has declared that it cooperates with the ICO. [19659005] Other Organizations

The OIC has declared that it is investigating allegations that Eldon Insurance Services shared customer data with Leave.EU for campaign purposes during the Brexit referendum, potentially violating the law on Eldon Insurance is headed by Arron Banks, who co-financed Leave.EU

This request, previously made by a former member of Cambridge Analytica, was denied by Leave.EU, who said that this is the only way to save money. was a lie used to attack Mr. Banks and his Brexit Group

The regulator also stated that he was trying to find out if the staff of the Eldon call center was using b ases of customer data to make calls on behalf of Leave.EU, which would be contrary to privacy laws. The EU said on Wednesday that the call center's claim was "total hogwash" and that no Eldon data had been used by the campaign.

Perhaps the most unexpected organization is Lifecycle Marketing (Mother and Baby) Ltd. , a company that distributes information materials, free gifts and vouchers to new mothers in exchange for their group registration.

In a notice of intent to fined £ 140,000 to the company, the OIC said it provided the Experian credit reference group with over 1 million records under an agreement in which the opposition Labor Party was listed as an Experian client. This is NationBuilder, an online campaign platform that the OIC has used up to 200 political parties or campaign groups during the 2017 UK general election. NationBuilder has a "feature correspondence "allowing parties to match their own databases with social media data from public profiles, which the regulator said could happen without the affected people knowing

NationBuilder Did not respond to requests for comments. French President Emmanuel Macron, United Kingdom's Women's Equality Party and US Republican Senator Rob Portman appear on the list of political clients

The report does not mention Russia, but Denham said to the FT that "However, she added," That said, right now we are conducting an investigation to see if the access was legitimate or not – many actors in this story have worked in Russia. "

Next Steps

The OIC Investigation Report is, in fact, an update of progress intended to inform a parliamentary inquiry into the false news.The final report of the regulator is expected in October

In addition to the promised data audits, the regulator made 10 recommendations to the government in its parallel report.

This includes a call for a code of practice for the government. The use of personal data in political campaigns, independent audits after referendums to ensure that campaigns delete personal data, and all digital political advertising must be archived in an open repository so that the data that underpins it

"If we can get political parties to fulfill their responsibilities for data protection, then. . . Ms. Denham

But she also warned: "Without a high level of transparency – and therefore trust among citizens that their data is being used appropriately – we risk developing a default voter monitoring system. This could have a long-term detrimental effect on the fabric of our democracy and our political life. "

Additional report by Henry Mance.