Electoral Commission Cyber Attack

On Tuesday 8 August, the Electoral Commission announced that it had experienced a cyber attack and data breach, first identified in October 2022.

The electoral registers held by the Electoral Commission at the time of the cyber attack include the name and address of anyone in the UK who was registered to vote between 2014 and 2022, as well as the names of those registered as overseas voters. The registers did not include the details of anonymous voters, who are not named on the electoral register due to personal safety concerns.

No council-held data was compromised. The attack has not affected your right to vote or whether you are registered to vote. Council services remain unaffected.

The Information Commissioner is currently investigating what happened.

Further information and FAQs are available on the Electoral Commission’s website at: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/privacy-policy/public-notification-cyber-attack-electoral-commission-systems

If you have concerns over any personal data the Electoral Commission may hold about you, please contact the Electoral Commission’s Data Protection Officer, Andrew Simpson, Head of Digital, Data, Technology and Facilities at: The Electoral Commission, 3 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8YZ or via email: dataprotection@electoralcommission.org.uk

A statement from the Information Commissioner: https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2023/08/ico-statement-on-the-electoral-commission/