N.B. – This is the press statement of Kontra Daya on the “digital” invasion of privacy and the need to oppose foreign intervention in elections. Please feel free to share. Thank you.
PRESS STATEMENT
Reference:
Assoc. Prof. Danilo A. Arao, convener, Kontra Daya
[email protected]; (0908) 866-2726
Investigate the “digital” invasion of privacy, oppose foreign intervention in elections – Kontra Daya
April 13, 2018
Any invasion of privacy is unacceptable and should be investigated immediately. Any foreign intervention in our country’s electoral system should be opposed relentlessly.
The misuse of Facebook data runs closer to home as almost 1.2 million Filipinos had their information shared with data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica (see Schroepfer, 2018). The latter allegedly harvested information from around 87 million people on Facebook (of which 82 percent are from the United States) to help elect US President Donald Trump in 2016. Its parent film Strategic Communication Laboratories (SCL) also claimed to have helped in the election campaigns of Philippine Presidents Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte in 2010 and 2016, respectively (Gutierrez, N., 2018; Morallo, 2018).
One may argue that 1.2 million “compromised” accounts is just a small percentage of the estimated 36.2 million Facebook users in the Philippines (“Number of Facebook Users”, 2017). But even then, it cannot be denied that the privacy of these 1.2 million Filipinos has been compromised when University of Cambridge Psychology Lecturer Aleksandr Kogan developed the app “thisisyourdigitallife” and then shared the user data with SCL/Cambridge Analytica and Eunoia Technologies (Grewal, 2018).
In the context of the 2016 elections in the Philippines, we are reminded of the massive leak of the database of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) which made public voter information. At that time, it was reported that “[t]he leaked data include names, birthdays, home addresses, e-mail, parent’s full names and in some cases passport details and text markers of fingerprints of more than 55 million registered voters” (Santos, 2016).
The issue right now, however, goes beyond privacy.
Even if the Aquino and Duterte camps have either downplayed or denied their partnership with foreign firms SCL and Cambridge Analytica, we cannot help but compare the continuing partnership of the COMELEC with Venezuelan-owned multinational electronic voting company Smartmatic, Inc. which started in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections in 2008 (“Smartmatic-Sahi’s Voting Solution”, 2008). Just like the controversy surrounding SCL and Cambridge Analytica, Smartmatic’s track record in Philippine elections through the years has been characterized by the breakdown of vote-counting machines (Gutierrez, P., 2016) and unauthorized script change on election day (“Comelec, Smartmatic”, 2017), among other controversies. Not surprisingly, election monitoring groups like Kontra Daya have denounced COMELEC for its mismanagement of the automated election system, particularly its partnership with a foreign entity like Smartmatic.
If there is a lesson that can be learned from the controversy surrounding Cambridge Analytica and SCL, it is that there should be no foreign intervention in the country’s electoral exercise. Just like the COMELEC, the political parties, lobby groups and public relations (PR) firms should be held accountable for the deals they make to ensure victory for their candidates or clients.
It is high time for the Senate and the House of Representatives to conduct an investigation into the role of Cambridge Analytica and SCL in the national elections. It is also important to require Facebook to explain the full extent of the data breach involving Facebook users in the Philippines and if such data were used to influence the outcome of the Philippine elections.
It is also high time for political parties, lobby groups and PR firms to be more transparent in their operations especially during election season. While there are clear laws on election expenditures, it is imperative that partnerships with individuals and groups be disclosed and that foreigners be disallowed from intervening in the election campaigns in any way.
Even if our call to the COMELEC has fallen on deaf ears, it still bears repeating that the partnership with Smartmatic be scrapped and that local talent and resources be maximized instead in ensuring honest and clean elections in the near future.
The people’s rights to privacy and suffrage cannot be compromised to satisfy the political agenda of the few. And as the 2019 senatorial and local elections roll around and we choose wisely to elect our next leaders, may we all be reminded that no one, most especially shady foreign entities, should be allowed to violate our rights.
References
Comelec, Smartmatic personnel face raps over script change. (2017, June 7). The Philippine Star. Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/06/07/1707875/comelec-smartmatic-personnel-face-raps-over-script-change
Grewal, P. (2018, March 16). Suspending Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group from Facebook [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/03/suspending-cambridge-analytica/
Gutierrez, N. (2018, April 10). Cambridge Analytica’s parent firm claims it won 2010 election for PH president. Rappler. Retrieved from https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/199939-strategic-communication-laboratories-noynoy-aquino-win-president-2010
Gutierrez, P. (2016, February 10). More problems spotted in CCS, vote counting machines. ABS-CBN News. Retrieved from http://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/02/10/16/more-problems-spotted-in-ccs-vote-counting-machines
Morallo, A. (2018, April 10). Palace: Duterte campaign had no dealings with data mining firm. philstar.com. Retrieved from https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/04/10/1804628/palace-duterte-campaign-had-no-dealings-data-mining-firm
Number of Facebook users in the Philippines from 2015 to 2022. (2017, July). statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/490455/number-of-philippines-facebook-users/
Santos, T. G. (2016, April 23). 55M at risk in ‘Comeleak’. Inquirer.net. Retrieved from http://technology.inquirer.net/47759/55m-at-risk-in-comeleak
Schroepfer, M. (2018, April 4). An update on our plans to restrict data access on Facebook [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/04/restricting-data-access/
Smartmatic-Sahi’s voting solution delivers first ever automated election in Philippines Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (2008, August 13). Smartmatic. Retrieved from http://www.smartmatic.com/news/article/smartmatic-sahi-s-voting-solution-delivers-first-ever-automated-election-in-philippines-autonomous-region-in-muslim-mindanao/
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