The report of the Auditor-General on Special Audits carried out on selected state institutions in the year 2018 has made a shocking revelation that the Electoral Commission (EC) has sold the data of voters to a private company for money.
The private company, Bysystem Limited, subsequently, sold the electoral data to financial service providers for a fee, the report said.
This revelation by the Auditor-General raises concern about possible breaches of the privacy of Ghanaians who gave their data to the EC.
When contacted, the Data Protection Commission could not readily tell whether the action breaches provisions of the Data Protection Act or not.
The official told The Finder that they will get a copy of the Auditor-General’s report to read in order to make a determination.
According to the Auditor-General’s report, auditors discovered that Bysystem Limited entered into an agreement with management of the Electoral Commission to have access to electoral data for the company to subsequently provide the electoral data to financial service providers for a fee.
The audit revealed that Bysystem Limited was to pay 20% of the fees collected on quarterly basis to the Electoral Commission.
However, the Auditor-General said management could not provide the Service Level Agreement between the Electoral Commission and Bysystem Ltd for review.
The audit report further noted that Bysystem Limited failed to remit the 20% commission due the Electoral Commission for the 2016 and 2017 financial years.
According to the report, the inability to review the principal terms and conditions contained in the contract made it difficult to assure that all the terms have been adhered to.
