Reform UK are facing accusations of potentially breaching data protection laws with their latest competition gimmick.
This week, Nigel Farage’s party announced a competition to win free energy bills for a year.
Amid growing uncertainty over the impact the Iran war will have on energy prices in the UK, Farage has pledged to scrap VAT and green levies on household energy bills if Reform wins power.
To promote the policy pledge, Farage launched a competition where the winner will have their energy bills paid for by Reform.
The party claims the bills of the entire street will be paid for as well, although the terms and conditions of the competition state that they “may determine what constitutes a ‘street’ or group of residences in its reasonable discretion.”
However, to enter the competition, entrants must complete a form in which they give their name, email address and telephone number, along with how they voted at the last election and how they intend to vote at the next one.
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It is the questions about voting history and intention that have sparked controversy, with experts suggesting this may breach data protection laws.
Mariano delli Santi, legal and policy officer at Open Rights Group, a campaign for digital rights, said: “Reform are asking the public to hand over sensitive data about their voting habits without being transparent about how it will be used.
“Political opinions are among the most sensitive types of personal data, and voters must be able to engage in campaigns without feeling pressured to trade their privacy for the chance of material benefit.
He said this looked like a clear breach of transparency obligations under UK data protection law, and urged the Information Commissioner’s Office to investigate.
Meanwhile, privacy barrister Eleonor Duhs asked why Reform were getting people’s voting intention for what is effectively a raffle.
“That seems to go beyond the purpose of the raffle,” she told the Guardian. “There are different categories of personal data under UK GDPR – your political opinions are given more protection than other sorts of data. There is a question mark about on what basis are they processing this data.”
On social media, others questioned what data Reform were gathering from the competition, including Labour MP Luke Charters.
Reform have dismissed such concerns, with a spokesperson the party is “entirely confident that this competition is legal.”