Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact

Germany: CDU violates privacy in election campaign

01 August 2002

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

The German investigative news programme Monitor has revealed that in order to improve their election chances, the conservative party Christlich Demokratische Union (CDU) in Cologne contracted the market research firm dimap to develop a computer programme that not only collected the personal addresses of almost all eligible voters in an electoral district, but also their social and political background. From 180,000 potential voters, 176,000 were entered in a database detailing their age, social status, housing situation, all contact details (address, telephone, mobile and fax numbers) and even the type of car they drive. None of those placed under surveillance were informed. The CDU has refused to comment and will not disclose where the personal data has come from or if it has been or will be destroyed. An individual can only press charges in civil law against the party if they have experienced personal injury on grounds of a privacy violation. To date, no investigation has been instigated by the authorities. See Monitor report from 26/09/02: Dubioser CDU-Wahlkampf (Dubious CDU election campaign).

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

Papon ''too ill'' to serve sentence

Next article 

Turkey: Ocalan death sentence commuted to life sentence:

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy