Tory scam to steal your data for electoral purposes

[noblegiraffe]

Local Tory parties are sending out letters asking people to sign up for postal votes, with an application form for a postal vote (genuine).

They are providing a free post envelope to send it back in.

This free post envelope does not go to the electoral services office address on the form, it goes to the local Tory party office.

They can then look at the form, see your details and know that you're wanting a postal vote (so can target you earlier in the election campaign). They will also know that you read mail from the conservatives.

Hopefully they will then pass your postal vote application form onto the correct address, but who knows?

Here's an example from twitter. People in a different area have also received one, but the free post envelope did not mention the Conservatives, it's only googling that showed the real destination.

twitter.com/markdpryan/status/1637165173734612999?s=61&t=U9XrcF693-JpMxeIueYG7g

My local council form asks for most of that - not phone no. or email. And not national insurance no.

And also from that link"Any contact details you provide us with during any interaction with us will be securely stored, and will not be passed on to anyone else. We will only use it to contact you regarding your entry on the Electoral Register."

So the email address and phone number that are kept by the electoral services are not provided to the political parties and this is additional data that can be taking by the party from that postal vote application form. Yes?

Here is the electoral commission form. This is what you need to provide. www.electoralcommission.org.uk/sites/default/files/2021-06/Postal%20vote%20application%20form.pdf

If you want a postal vote but don't want political party involvement in getting one, you can simply fill this in and send direct to your council.

IF the Tories are asking for more than this they are data harvesting. It is also POSSIBLE they may record your email address to send you emails. I do not know if they are doing this. But if they are, they would have needed to include something called a Fair Processing Notice in the letter to you saying how they will use your data or they will fall foul of the ICO.

When we send a letter suggesting a postal vote to people we think support us, we include the form but tell them to scan and email it or post it to the council. We don't collate or handle the forms ourselves to avoid people thinking we are doing nefarious things with it.

But we also don't have the money Tories have so don't have an office with employed staff to collate the forms etc. We are just a bunch of volunteers. So it would be an admin headache for us to do it.

They can then look at the form, see your details and know that you're wanting a postal vote (so can target you earlier in the election campaign).

And then what? Hypnotise you to vote Tory? You've got a brain & free will you know. As for knowing you read mail, again, just bin junk mail. They're not going to come round & force you to read it.

Councils don't provide us with email addresses or phone numbers for voters. Just name, address and whether they have a postal or proxy vote.

We do like to get hold of that info obviously, because then we can contact voters directly, but it's up to us to obtain it lawfully. That means we have to provide a Fair Processing Notice whenever we record it.

So we may do a survey and ask people to provide email and we ask them to consent to us using it to contact them. If they don't give consent we can't use it.

And then what? Hypnotise you to vote Tory?

When OP said 'They will also know that you read mail from the conservatives' 😮I was thinking along the lines of a brain chip that activates as she goes into the polling booth and starts intoning 'Vote Tory. Vote Tory' but thinking about it maybe hypnotism would be less bother and cheaper.

And yes we do target postal voters earlier in the campaign. This is because they get their ballot papers around 2-3 weeks before polling day and send them off straight away. No point me talking them the day before polling day to persuade them to vote for me when they've already voted. I need to make sure I talk to them sooner. I was out for several hours yesterday talking to postal voters. In the last 3 weeks of the campaign I only talk to on the day voters. This isn't a conspiracy, this is just sensible campaigning.

We do like to get hold of that info obviously, because then we can contact voters directly, but it's up to us to obtain it lawfully. That means we have to provide a Fair Processing Notice whenever we record it.

Tbf they have added this to the bottom of the application form.

Not necessarily.

We can't see the whole set of information attached to the form. There is insufficient evidence to comment.

It isn't a Tory scam. It really isn't. All the major parties do this.
See here for ico analysis of compliance by 7 uk political parties in 2020 ico.org.uk/media/action-weve-taken/2618567/audits-of-data-protection-compliance-by-uk-political-parties-summary-report.pdf#page6

All the major parties do this.

Never seen it before.

So because you haven't seen it that must mean it's a Tory scam? Ok

Well, there always has to be a first time, doesn't there? 🙄

At the end of the day, all of us are responsible for reading forms properly and being aware of what personal data we provide and to whom.

If you don't want the tories to activate the chip in your brain, download the form and fill it in yourself. Or get it from one of the other places where the forms are obliged to be such as a library. Or contact the electoral commission and ask for one to be posted out to you.

So therefore it's a Tory scam?

Just because you've never seen it before?

In this instance, yes. They have amended a postal vote application form to include a section about allowing the conservatives to use the data.

Aren't you worried that the info on the electoral register that the Labour Party hold was hacked? Any one could have your info!!' Even a Tory!!

My dh hit his postal vote application from The Labour Party. I mean all these political parties trying to get people to vote, who do they think they are 🙄

How many non-Tories are going to actively tick one of 3 Boxes to be kept informed of Tory campaigning activity?

Ah, now I see where you're coming from.

@noblegiraffe what do you mean? Is that supposed to be a dig?

I vote and campaign for Alliance in Northern Ireland. I'm not a Tory voter or supporter. If I was in England, Scotland or Wales I don't know who id vote for.

(But it wouldn't be the Tories)

I will again post the link from the OP. Lots of people on there unhappy with the fact that the Conservatives have amended a postal vote application form to become a data collection form for the Conservatives.

twitter.com/markdpryan/status/1637165173734612999?s=61&t=U9XrcF693-JpMxeIueYG7g

There is also a newspaper article from Scotland where a Tory MSP was warned about postal vote fishing.

www.thenational.scot/news/18973501.electoral-commission-warn-oliver-mundell-msp-postal-vote-fishing/

And the way they are getting around this is that the electoral commission said that it should be clear that the preferred return address is the correct one.

Providing a free envelope to return it to the incorrect address rather bypasses that obligation.

The correct address is in bold at the top of the form

Does it waste their money. If so, can I apply multiple times to them? I already have a postal vote but I'm all in favour of costing the Tories money.

And yet it is not on the freepost envelope provided.

They are doing their best to get around the restrictions, aren't they?