Information Commissioner urged to investigate Reform’s energy bills competition
The information watchdog has been called to investigate the UK Reform contest, in which the party pledged to pay a street’s energy bills for a year.
Open Rights Group’s demand comes after a Labor Secretary slammed Reform’s “publicity stunts”, saying: “Nigel Farage is just trying to attract attention and backlash with his algorithm-based publicity stunts.”
To enter the competition, contestants are asked questions including who they voted for in the last general election and who they plan to support in the next election.
The party’s Treasury spokesman, Robert Jenrick, told a press conference in London when announcing the draw: “If you give us your details… we will draw one of these names in the next week or two and Nigel (Farage) will come to your house and pay your energy bills and the energy bills of everyone who lives on your street for a year.”
Digital campaigners Open Rights Group have now called on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to investigate.
Mariano delli Santi, head of legal and policy at Open Rights Group, said: “The reform asks the public to hand over sensitive data about their voting habits without being transparent about how it will be used. This is a clear breach of transparency obligations under UK data protection law. Nothing in their privacy policy suggests they are not acting unlawfully in many other ways.”
“Political views are among the most sensitive types of personal data and voters need to be able to participate in campaigns without feeling pressure to alter their privacy for financial gain. The ICO must investigate and take a stand against this exploitation of data by political parties.”
“Aside from potential breaches of data protection law, offering financial incentives in exchange for people’s political views risks turning democratic participation into a data-harvesting exercise. Free and fair elections depend on trust, transparency and genuine consent, not on rivalries that blur the lines between campaigning and profiling.”
A spokesman for Reform UK said: “We are completely confident that this competition is legal.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office has been contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, the latest “political stunt” has been criticized by climate change minister Katie White.
To talk Independent “He is just trying to attract attention and reaction with his algorithm-driven promotional stunts,” he said.
Continuing her attacks on net-zero policies and renewables, which she repeated at the press conference, Ms White said: “This is actually the kind of thing that excites me as well, because in terms of our long-term security, this is the path to long-term energy security. You can’t approve solar or turn off wind.”
He argued that the war in Iran and the threat to oil supplies, as well as Vladimir Putin’s control of the oil market, highlighted “why we need our own energy supplies in the long term” and warned that Farage’s policies were “undermining Britain’s long-term security and investment”.
Announcing energy competition, Reform UK also said that if it were in government it would remove VAT and green taxes from household energy bills in a bid to reduce the amount people pay. Prices rose sharply after oil supplies were severely disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East following the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Mr Jenrick claimed his party’s plans would save the average household “at least £200 on their energy bill”.
The party claimed that removing the 5 per cent VAT on energy bills would reduce a family’s energy bill by around £85 a year, while removing the renewable energy obligation and carbon price support tax would save a further £115.
The measures will be funded by a 7.5 per cent cut to the budgets of unprotected arm-length bodies, known as quangos, which Reform says will save £2.5bn a year.
On Monday the government announced a £53 million support package for “vulnerable” heating oil customers affected by rising prices.
