Thank God I’m Not A Registered Voter
Friday
Mar 16, 2007
Some people do the stupidest things with information entrusted to them. Take this case for example. PTB contributor Arnold Gamboa discovered that a certain website purporting to belong to the Commission on Elections NCR (National Capital Region) has published the entire list of registrants for the region.
I think COMELEC made a terrible — make that stupid — mistake by publishing the personal information of thousands of NCR’s registered voters. Comelecncr.com — NOT .gov, take note (is this even sanctioned by the government?) is a partnership between a COMELEC official named Dir. Ferdinand Rafanan and San Miguel Corporation (yes, what does a multi-million peso company has to do with Philippine elections?).
Dir. Rafanan said the goal is transparency. Ok, sounds like a noble intention. But the big question is, does publishing someone’s name, registration number and home address over the internet where billions of people can access a violation of the right to privacy?
If I were a stalker (which I sometimes am), this makes for good resource material. I’d better save the entire list then on my hard drive, for future reference! Now more dangerously–if I had a grudge against someone but I didn’t know where he lived, I could check out the list. Or if I’m a politico, and I want to send out campaign materials via snail mail (a.ka. SPAM) to people, I could use this info. Or what if I run a business? I no longer have to buy address lists. I just check out the registrants list and I now have people’s full names, birth dates and home addresses.
Oh, and their web design sucks. Frames? Tables? Animated GIFs? Marquee text? Oh my God!!! Looks like the site was made with MS Frontpage. Wait. It is!
J. Angelo Racoma is a technology journalist and blogger. See more of his blog posts here at racoma.com.ph, commentaries at racoma.net, and Twitter feed at @jangelo.
Comments
Kates
March 16th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
WTF were the “Website Design Team” thinking putting their names and pictures up? In webdesignland, that’s career suicide.
Arnold Gamboa
March 16th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
That’s what I was thinking — proud sila sa website nila, at inilagay pa ang mga piktyurs. Hahahaha!
Too bad, unlike you, Angelo, I’m a registered voter. And I’m now vulnerable to stalkers and ‘spammers’.
marian
March 16th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I’m not also a registered voter, but I had that thought of registering this election, but too late for me. Blessing in disguise I guess?
Yet.. my mother is listed on it and we’re on the same roof. As of now, the list were being cleared (though 1 hour earlier it was still being listed and the pdfs are still accessible).
redkinoko
March 16th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
What the hell man. Saying “Thank God I’m not a voter” because you were spared from this problem is like saying “Oh thank God I’m an out-of-school kid” after a bomb goes off at school.
Being able to escape one problem brought by a responsibility you should have taken up doesn’t clear you out from the fault of truancy in the first place.
jhay
March 16th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
It took all 6 of them to design that site?!
J. Angelo Racoma
March 17th, 2007 at 12:11 am
@Redkinoko, I made an active decision not to exercise my right to suffrage a long time ago. And comparing voting with education is really way off. Hence I don’t think the out-of-school youth analogy is appropriate. Thanks for the update at your site though – http://redkinoko.blogspot.com/2007/03/make-rain-of-stupid-stop.html . It could have been a setup, indeed.
@Jhay, I guess only one of them. But it’s good to include everyone else in the picture, right?
@Kates, amateurish, right.
@Arnold, thanks for the lead!
@Marian, I noticed files started disappearing a few minutes after I posted. The people
redkinoko
March 17th, 2007 at 1:00 am
Unfortunately, Comelec has finally accepted the fault of the system (haha) and it’s now on inquirer.net. That means it’s not a fake afterall. They’re just THAT oblivious.
Earlier, a friend of mine got to talk to one of the developers of the site. I don’t have the log right now but in the conversation, the developer went “The government has the right to display these files. They’re public records because they’re free for public access.
I think he meant record of the public. So there.
J. Angelo Racoma
March 17th, 2007 at 2:19 am
Heheh. So it’s a _lapse of judgment_ as they prefer to call it.
I used to handle sensitive material back when I was an economist at the NEDA. They’re also public documents, but that didn’t mean just anyone can access them. Lawsuits have been lodged because of those information. Careers have been ruined. People imprisoned, etc. Think Piatco/NAIA 3 and all those scandals.
myepinoy
March 19th, 2007 at 6:07 am
What is new? The comelec’s official site lists the names and address in the P.I. of all overseas absentee voters. The page is called Comelec Certified List Absentee Voters.
Speaking of politicos sending out letters via snail mail to voters, Villar was or is the king. He did it twice (when he ran for Congress and then for the Senate seat.) While the first one was more obvious and coupled with a prize kuno if you answer the questions with an obvious answer (Manny Villar)the second one (for senate seat) was more of kumusta from your Congressman Manny Villar using post paid envelope of Congress with Congress letterhead.
I have no idea if he still does this letter because I moved out from muntinlupa-las pinas congressional district.
Siguro, baka lang, yon namang list of clients from his real estate development and housing businesses or probably not kasi marami ring customers na merong problem.
David Zandueta
March 27th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Sayang you chose not to vote a long time ago, Angelo. But oh well, that’s your decision.
emurhfkq
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:37 am
people are stranger