Alleged data leaks are publicly accessible docs for 2013 polls – Comelec

Inquirer files

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday said the data allegedly leaked by hackers are publicly available documents posted online during the 2013 midterm elections.

Comelec made the disclosure after a hacker group known as the “Philippine Cyber Mafia” claimed that it leaked several data from the poll body.

“The Comelec assures the public that there is no data breach/leak,” the Comelec said in a statement, adding that such allegations “[are] clearly done with malice and ill intent.”

READ: Comelec denies hacking claim

“The said documents, subject of the alleged ‘data breach/leak’ are public documents that have been previously posted and made available online,” the poll body also noted.

Cybersecurity advocacy group Deep Web Konek said the data leaked in the dark web allegedly contains Overseas Filipino voters’ details, political [party] information, and other potentially personally identifiable information.

However, based on Comelec’s probe, the data only pertains to the List of Applicants for Consideration of the Resident Election Registration Board Hearing and the Lists of Approved Applicants from the 2013 Election-Year Registration Cycle.

These data, the poll body said, were made publicly available as mandated by Republic Act No. 10590 or the Overseas Voting Act of 2013.

The commission further assured that this is “unrelated to Comelec’s current data and not in any way connected” to the upcoming midterm and Bangsamoro parliamentary polls on May 12.

While he denied the hacking incident, Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia previously said the poll body is still preparing for such a possibility with the unveiling of its precinct finder in the coming days.

Garcia also said the Comelec will ensure that the transmission of results will be “hackproof.”