A data rights group has threatened legal action against the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats over the parties’ use of personal data ahead of Thursday’s election.

A pre-action letter has been sent by Open Rights Group on behalf of three individuals who had requested their data from the parties and were dissatisfied with their responses. It includes an “urgent notice” for all three parties to stop processing their data immediately.

The letter cites breaches under the Data Protection Act 2018, saying the “imminence of the election” and “heightened processing activities” necessitated all parties to stop processing immediately. It gave the parties a deadline of 6pm on Friday 6 December to comply. When contacted by the Guardian, none of the parties gave any indication that they intended to do so.

Pascal Crowe, Open Rights Group’s data and democracy project officer, said abuse of personal data was a “systemic” issue in UK politics and there were serious concerns about the legality of the parties’ practices. Read more

Also Read: General Election 2019: Johnson insists no NI-GB goods checks post-Brexit

hw.os