Protection of personal data in the election campaign – UODO’s guide

How to prevent irregularities and violations related to the processing of personal data in an election campaign? The answer should be sought in the guide of the Personal Data Protection Office entitled "Protection of personal data in the election campaign".

"Elections are a celebration of democracy. It is important that the right to privacy is respected both in and during the preparation process. Election committees and other entities involved in the election campaign must comply not only with the provisions directly governing its course, but also with the provisions on the protection of personal data. To help them in this, the Personal Data Protection Office (UODO) has prepared a guide – said Jan Nowak, President of UODO.

In the opinion of the supervisory authority, this is all the more important because the provisions governing the conduct of elections refer to issues related to the protection of personal data to a limited extent.

Therefore, the guide discusses issues such as:

• legal acts regulating the course of elections, in particular emphasising issues related to the processing of personal data of voters,
• rules regarding the processing of personal data in the electoral process,
• duties of the controller, election administration and election committees,
• the rights of voters and other persons whose data are processed.

In the publication, readers will find, inter alia tips on the implementation of the information obligation, keeping data processing documentation, reporting personal data breaches to the supervisory authority or appointing a data protection officer (DPO).

An important function of the guide is also to familiarise citizens with their rights in the field of personal data protection in the context of current electoral law.

A separate part of the publication are answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding the main topic of the guide.

The latest guide of the Personal Data Protection Office is an updated version of the publication developed in September 2018.

Protection of personal data in the election campaign – UODO’s guide (in Polish)