The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Tuesday ruled out another voters’ data leak at this year’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections as had in fact happened in 2016.
Renato Paraiso, DICT spokesperson, told reporters that Secretary Ivan John Uy is scheduled to sign a memorandum of agreement with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the publication of an online precinct finder for the 2023 BSKE on the Comelec website.
“We are just awaiting the signature of the Secretary, but basically everything is in place. We would be providing technical assistance and support to the Comelec when it comes to the precinct finder, Paraiso said.
“We will also provide the platform but it will be solely under the control and supervision of the Comelec so as not to violate any of the laws under the Election Code,” he added.
Paraiso reiterated the Comelec will publish the precinct finder on its website within the week.
The Comelec has yet to publish the precinct finder on its website pending DICT approval to avoid data privacy and intrusion complications given recent incidents of hacking in government owned portals.
The Comelec said a total 92 million voters have registered for BSKE 2023, of which 68 million are regular voters and another 24 million are SK voters. The BSKE 2023 will be held on Monday, 30 October.
