Voter database exposed on Internet

[waltky]

Somebody asleep at the security switch...

Database of 191 million U.S. voters exposed on Internet: researcher
Mon Dec 28, 2015 - An independent computer security researcher uncovered a database of information on 191 million voters that is exposed on the open Internet due to an incorrectly configured database, he said on Monday.

The database includes names, addresses, birth dates, party affiliations, phone numbers and emails of voters in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, researcher Chris Vickery said in a phone interview. Vickery, a tech support specialist from Austin, Texas, said he found the information while looking for information exposed on the Web in a bid to raise awareness of data leaks. Vickery said he could not tell whether others had accessed the voter database, which took about a day to download.

While voter data is typically considered public information, it would be time-consuming and expensive to gather a database of all American voters. A trove of all U.S. voter data could be valuable to criminals looking for lists of large numbers of targets for a variety of fraud schemes. "The alarming part is that the information is so concentrated," Vickery said. Vickery said he has not been able to identify who controls the database, but that he is working with U.S. federal authorities to find the owner so they can remove it from public view. He declined to identify the agencies. A representative with the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.

A representative with the U.S. Federal Elections Commission, which regulates campaign financing, said the agency does not have jurisdiction over protecting voter records. Regulations on protecting voter data vary from state to state, with many states imposing no restrictions. California, for example, requires that voter data be used for political purposes only and not be available to persons outside of the United States. Privacy advocates said Vickery's findings were troubling.

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[jwoodie]

Is anyone surprised? Remember FBI Filegate?

 

[TomFitz]

Somebody asleep at the security switch...

Database of 191 million U.S. voters exposed on Internet: researcher
Mon Dec 28, 2015 - An independent computer security researcher uncovered a database of information on 191 million voters that is exposed on the open Internet due to an incorrectly configured database, he said on Monday.

The database includes names, addresses, birth dates, party affiliations, phone numbers and emails of voters in all 50 U.S. states and Washington, researcher Chris Vickery said in a phone interview. Vickery, a tech support specialist from Austin, Texas, said he found the information while looking for information exposed on the Web in a bid to raise awareness of data leaks. Vickery said he could not tell whether others had accessed the voter database, which took about a day to download.

While voter data is typically considered public information, it would be time-consuming and expensive to gather a database of all American voters. A trove of all U.S. voter data could be valuable to criminals looking for lists of large numbers of targets for a variety of fraud schemes. "The alarming part is that the information is so concentrated," Vickery said. Vickery said he has not been able to identify who controls the database, but that he is working with U.S. federal authorities to find the owner so they can remove it from public view. He declined to identify the agencies. A representative with the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined to comment.

A representative with the U.S. Federal Elections Commission, which regulates campaign financing, said the agency does not have jurisdiction over protecting voter records. Regulations on protecting voter data vary from state to state, with many states imposing no restrictions. California, for example, requires that voter data be used for political purposes only and not be available to persons outside of the United States. Privacy advocates said Vickery's findings were troubling.

MORE

 

[TomFitz]

This is a story worth watching.

Both parties use databases like this for a variety of reasons. They're used to plot scenarios for redistricting, for measuring changes in demographics and for elections.

Your name and address, and whether you voted in an election or not, IS public record, that anyone can see. Your contact information, and who you voted for is NOT.

None the less both parties routinely collect inforation on registered voters and when they voted and build databases around them. With a name and address, it's not hard to datamine contact information. There is an entire industry devoted to it now. These lists are then collated and sorted into usable for elections. I know from experience that the Democratic system, referred to at the VAN can give you a walking map that can be assembled so you know which likely voter doors to knock on and which to ignore. This is a tremendous time and resource saver for candidates.

This database was the subject of the dust up between the Saunders and Clinton campaigns a couple of weeks ago.

On the GOP side, Cruz has been working these databases for months, assembling a solid ground game. Donald Trump only gained access to the GOP database a week ago.