Nicosia, Cyprus. The data protection commission is reviewing complaints over election day SMS and messaging app communications as authorities examine whether campaign outreach complied with data protection rules during Sunday’s parliamentary vote.
Complaints under review
Commissioner Maria Christofidou said voters received messages through SMS, Viber, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger from candidate MPs, and noted that such communications are not covered by the 48-hour pre-election restriction. She said the issue under review is whether consent rules were respected.
Christofidou said complaints have been submitted and that the office will investigate whether the messages were sent only to people included in updated electoral lists and whether proper consent had been obtained. She said that if the messages were sent to people who had not given consent, there would be a case of a violation of personal data.
Checks at polling stations
Christofidou said a full picture of the number of complaints and messages is expected after the electoral process concludes on Sunday, when data collection will be completed.
She added that supervisory checks are also being carried out at polling stations by officers from her office to ensure compliance with instructions on the handling of voter information. These include requirements that voter lists contain only names, surnames and voter identification numbers without additional personal identifiers.
According to the commissioner, early inspections indicate that the instructions have been followed.