The Data Protection Commission has launched an investigation into the Electoral Commission’s (EC) sale of electoral data of electorate.
Although the details outlined in the special
audit by the Auditor-General’s Department point to a breach, the Data
Protection Commission is investigating the matter dispassionately and
objectively.
The Electoral register allows the electorate to
vote. Beyond that, their concern must be sought before their data is released
even though the EC is a legitimate data controller in striking a deal with a
software development company.
Patricia Adusei-Poku, the Executive Director of the Ghana Data Protection Commission, made the disclosures on the back of revelations by the Auditor-General that the EC sold voters’ data to an Accra-based software development company, Bysystems Ghana Limited.
She insisted
that the EC needed to have sought approval from the electorate before selling
electoral data to a third party although it was a legitimate data controller. In
striking the controversial deal with the software development company, the
purpose and nature of the deal should have been made known to the public.
“These are bits of information that should be
documented and made available if possible, in advance, to data subjects, which
is you and I. The electorates should have been given that transparency in order
to be able to either object or agree.
“There is one clear purpose for the electoral
register, to allow us to vote. Beyond that, the concern of the electorate must
be sought,” Ms Adusei-Poku stressed.
Dr Kojo
Asante, the Director of Advocacy and Policy Engagement at the Centre for
Democratic Development-Ghana (CDD-Ghana), was dismayed and surprised the EC agreed
to sell electoral data to private a firm and recalled when his centre approached
the commission for data to facilitate their research, the EC was less cooperative.
“When you hear that the Electoral Commission is
comfortable to pass on information, not even for the purposes of an election
but to a private company in a format the private company can use in whatever
reason, is worrying,” he bemoaned.
According to the audit report, the company bought the data from the EC, who sold them to financial service providers for a fee. The special audit on the EC, as part of special audits carried out by the Auditor-General on selected state institutions in 2018, also revealed no agreement between the EC and the company on the sale of voters’ information. -myjoyonline.com
