The new European data protection law benefits electoral spam

The approval of Organic Law 3/2018 on data protection and guarantee of digital rights (LOPDGDD) has led to the addition of a new article to the electoral law: 58 bis , allowing parties to collect and use data on political opinions of citizens during the electoral campaign and send electoral propaganda through messaging systems or hire it on social networks. The Ombudsman has filed an appeal for unconstitutionality against article 58 bis and the Constitutional Court has admitted it for processing. While waiting for the Court to rule and with the campaign for the general elections approaching, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has ended up issuing a circular to clarify the situation.

Spanish democratic system

In a way that is difficult to understand, the LOPDGDD has taken for granted that the functioning of the requires that political parties collect data on the political Turkey WhatsApp Number Data opinions of citizens. For her part, Mònica Vilasau, professor of Law and Political Science Studies at the UOC , indicates that, although the new LOPDGDD is very restrictive on the processing of ideological data, the modification of the LOREG through article 58 bis is very restrictive. less in the specific case of propaganda and the electoral campaign.

The two UOC experts emphasize

That the parties must carry out an evaluation of the impact of data protection. Which “is a requirement when it is estimated that there may be a risk to the rights of India Email List the interested parties,” details Peguera. Citizens have ways to exercise their rights. For Vilasau, “the best option is to resort to the exercise of the rights of access, rectification, deletion, limitation of processing or opposition. The circular issued by the AEDP to specify article 58 bis indicates that political parties or companies they hire must obtain data on citizens’ political opinions from completely public sources , such as websites or open social networks.