Privacy notice
How we collect and use your information
Website visitors
This privacy notice tells you what to expect when the Electoral
Commission collects personal information about visitors to our
websites.
When someone visits www.aboutmyvote.co.uk we
collect standard internet log information which shows how visitors
are using the site. We do this to monitor the number of visitors to
the various parts of the site, and to analyse the behaviour of our
visitors in order to help us to provide you with a better user
experience. We collect this information in a way that does not
identify anyone. We do not make any attempt to find out the
identities of those visiting any of our websites. We will not
associate any data gathered from this site with any personally
identifying information from any source. If we do want to collect
personally identifiable information through our website, we will be
up front about this and get your consent. We will make it clear
when we collect
personal information and will explain what we intend to do with
it.
Use of cookies by the Electoral Commission
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by
websites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make
websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide
information to the owners of the site. Cookies will often record
information such as a user's preferences for options on a site, or
on a transactional site a cookie will be used to identify a
logged-in user and preserve the integrity of the data they are
entering. Cookies are also used to identify website visitors for
the purposes of analysing site usage.
Some cookies are placed on your computer by the website you are
visiting but others are placed by third parties, often to track
website usage. When you visit an Electoral Commission website, a
small number of third party cookies may be placed on your computer
to help analyse usage or to monitor the success of our campaigns.
We provide information about these below and show you how to get
further information about them.
IP addresses are used to initially identify the location of
users. This information is used to tailor the website to improve
the user experience and present locally relevant information (such
as upcoming elections in a particular area). The information is
also used to analyse and improve the services offered on the
website. Where information is provided based on the user's IP
address, this forms a 'best guess' of the user's location. There
are several reasons why a user's IP address may not necessarily
equate to their computer's physical location (such as if the
computer's internet access is based upon a server located
elsewhere). We have done everything we can to ensure the accuracy
of the location-specific information based upon IP addresses, and
have ensured that crucial information requires the user to enter
their postcode to confirm their location. At any time the user can
change the location that has been set by their IP address by
entering their postcode on the website (in the 'Your local area'
section).
A facility is provided on this website for users to enter their
postcode. This facility is provided for the convenience of the
user, allowing the website to tailor information to their local
area (for instance, upcoming elections in a particular area). The
postcode entered by the user is retained by the site as a 'cookie',
meaning that different sections of the site will remain tailored to
the user's locality as they move through the site. The postcode is
only used by the site for this purpose and to analyse and improve
the services offered on the website. Postcodes are not used to
contact or send mail to users or in any other off-line
circumstance.
The postcode facility provides information by linking individual
postcodes to electoral boundaries (such as local authorities and
parliamentary constituencies). The data which drives this
functionality is provided by Ordnance Survey (for Great Britain
data) and Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland. While every effort is
made to ensure the accuracy of the data, The Electoral Commission
is not responsible for this data and there may be instances where
it is less than 100% accurate. OS and OSNI provide updated
data-sets on a regular basis and these are used to update the
website's database on a roughly annual basis, thereby ensuring that
new postcodes or changes to boundaries are taken into account.
Online form-filling functionality
This website includes an online form-filling functionality for
applications to register to vote and for applications for postal
voting. This functionality is provided for the convenience of the
user and to minimise the effort required to complete these
applications. Please note that the application process is not
finished until the user has completed the online process, printed
their form, signed it by hand, and sent it back to their local
electoral registration office. The appropriate address details are
provided during the form-filling process based upon the postcode
entered by the user. You can also find contact details for your
electoral registration office just by entering your postcode in the
"Your local area" section of the site.
Please note that it is not possible to "submit" applications
online since a hand-written signature is required for voting
security reasons, and since applications must be returned to local
electoral registration offices and not to a central point of
contact. Electoral registration is by law managed by local
electoral registration offices - The Electoral Commission itself
does not and cannot process the applications, so you should not
send your application to us.
Since applications are not submitted online, the website does
not retain personal information entered by the user beyond the
duration of time spent completing the form-filling process. To
ensure the security of the application details they are not carried
across from one form-filling process to another - such as from the
electoral registration process to the postal vote application
process. The only exception to this is the user's postcode (as
entered by them) which the site requires to provide them with
location-specific information (such as the details of their local
electoral registration office).
When completing the form-filling processes on the website, users
will be forced to connect to the server using HTTPS - a secure
server connection. This will ensure that personal data that
is entered by users will be protected when transferred to and from
the server.
Following an application via the form-filling process, the only
information retained by the site is: the user's postcode (as
entered by them); the date and time of the application; the
applicant's local electoral registration office (as determined by
their postcode); and the user's client IP address. Each application
is also allocated a random unique reference number. This
information is stored securely and can only be accessed by the
website's administrators. This information will generally only be
accessed in specific circumstances such as a request from the
Police. The information will not be used to contact users without
their prior consent.
Website security testing
As part of the development of the website an application
security assessment was conducted. This was conducted using the
software WebInspect from HP Software (formerly SPI Dynamics).
WebInspect is an industry standard security and penetration testing
tool for web applications. Find out more about the software
WebInspect.
The tables below explain the cookies we use and why:
Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the
browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to
see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them,
visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all
websites visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
If you continue to access the Commission's websites without
changing these settings, we will consider that you consent to the
use of cookies as set out above. Please be aware that restricting
cookies may impact on the functionality of the Electoral
Commission's websites.
Other personal information
The Electoral Commission also collects personal data by means of
our day-to-day activities and contact with people who access our
services. We have to hold the details of the people who have
requested a service in order to provide it. However, we only use
these details to provide the service the person has
requested.
See our policy on collecting and holding personal information
(PDF)
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy
notice was last updated April 2012.
How to contact us
Queries about how the Commission collects and handles personal
information may be submitted to us by mail or email. Please send
requests to:
Joanne Crofton-Diggins
The Electoral Commission
3 Bunhill Row
London EC1Y 8YZ
JCrofton-Diggins@electoralcommission.org.uk
General information
- This site has security measures in place to protect against the
loss, misuse and alteration of material under our control. However,
we accept no responsibility for alteration, manipulation or
interpretation of its data once placed on the World Wide Web
- Our information on the World Wide Web is subject to change
without notice
- Where we provide links to sites, we do not by doing so endorse
any information or opinions appearing in them
- We accept no liability over the availability of linked
pages
- This website is governed by UK law.
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