NationalCitizensMovementforFreeElections

Phone:7360969/7883484/4511586/Fax:4704151
secretariat@namfrel.com.ph
601,DMGCenter,DomingoM.GuevaraSt.,MandaluyongCity,
Philippines

Contact:EricAlvia,SecretaryGeneral
PressStatement

TheNationalCitizensMovementforFreeElections(Namfrel)condemnsinstrongesttermsthe
leakofvotersregistrationdatawhichhasbeenmadeaccessibleonlinebyperpetrator(s)hiding
behindthenameLulzsecPilipinas.Theleakeddatahasreportedlybeenmadeavailableviathe
BitTorrentfiledistributionscheme.Itisanticipatedthatthedatabasewillcontinuetobereposted
inotherwebsites.Chatterinsocialmediaandblogsindicatethattheleakedvotersregistration
databasehasfalleninthehandsofmalefactorstobeexploited.

TheCommissiononElections(COMELECorCommission)hasassuredthepublicthatthe
incidentwillnotaffecttheMay9,2016NationalandLocalElectionsandthattheautomated
electionsystemremainssecure.However,itisstillresponsibleandaccountablefortheseeming
lackofsecurityofthisvoterdata.Thisisamatterthatwillhavetobedealtwithintheverynear
futureastopossibleviolationoftheDataPrivacyAct..

Thedataleakcouldhavelonglastingeffectsinthefuture.Lawyersandexpertsinthefieldof
informationsecurityhaveopinedthatthedataleakhasexposedmorethan54millionregistered
voterstorisksofidentitytheft,harassment,fraud,andscamsinbothcyberspaceandphysical
worldwithdetailedpersonalinformationandsensitivepersonalinformationavailableonline.

ANAMFRELvolunteerwaslockedoutofaPayPalaccountonApril21aftertherewereseveral
remoteattemptstoaccessitthroughanemailaddressthatwasonthevoterregistrationrecord.
OfparticularconcernisthefateofoverseasFilipinoworkerswhosepassportdatahavebeen
exposed.Theinformationmaybeillegallyusedandtheymaysufferinconvenienceastheytravel.

NamfrellaudstheeffortsoftheNationalBureauofInvestigationworkingcloselywiththe
Commissionwhichhasresultedintheapprehensionofanallegedperpetratorofthedefacement
oftheCommissionswebsite.ItishopedthattheNBIandtheCommissionwillpursueleadsto
apprehendthehacker(s)whohadcopiedthevoterregistrationdatabaseandmadethesame
availableonvarioussitesintheinternet.WealsocommendtheBangkoSentralngPilipinasfor
immediatelyenjoiningthebankstotakethenecessarymeasurestoprotectthebankingpublic
fromtheleakedconfidentialdata.

NamfrelbelievesthattheCommissionneedstofocusonthecomingpollsevenasitexertsefforts
toaddressissuesemergingfromthedataleakincident.Namfreloffersassistancewithinits
expertisetotheCommissiontoensurecredibilityoftheMay9,2016NationalandLocalElections.