Privacy policy

This section provides information about the security of this website and the way in which it manages any personal details you may provide while on the site.

View our terms and conditions.

Postcodes and IP-targeting for local information

• IP addresses are used to initially identify the location of users. This information is used to tailor the website to improve the user experience and present locally relevant information (such as upcoming elections in a particular area). The information is also used to analyse and improve the services offered on the website. Where information is provided based on the user’s IP address, this forms a ‘best guess’ of the user’s location. There are several reasons why a user’s IP address may not necessarily equate to their computer’s physical location (such as if the computer’s internet access is based upon a server located elsewhere). We have done everything we can to ensure the accuracy of the location-specific information based upon IP addresses, and have ensured that crucial information requires the user to enter their postcode to confirm their location. At any time the user can change the location that has been set by their IP address by entering their postcode on the website (in the ‘Your local area’ section).
• A facility is provided on this website for users to enter their postcode. This facility is provided for the convenience of the user, allowing the website to tailor information to their local area (for instance, upcoming elections in a particular area). The postcode entered by the user is retained by the site as a ‘cookie’, meaning that different sections of the site will remain tailored to the user’s locality as they move through the site. The postcode is only used by the site for this purpose and to analyse and improve the services offered on the website. Postcodes are not used to contact or send mail to users or in any other off-line circumstance.
• The postcode facility provides information by linking individual postcodes to electoral boundaries (such as local authorities and parliamentary constituencies). The data which drives this functionality is provided by Ordnance Survey (for Great Britain data) and Ordnance Survey Northern Ireland. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the data, The Electoral Commission is not responsible for this data and there may be instances where it is less than 100% accurate. OS and OSNI provide updated data-sets on a regular basis and these are used to update the website’s database on a roughly annual basis, thereby ensuring that new postcodes or changes to boundaries are taken into account.

Online form-filling functionality

• This website includes an online form-filling functionality for applications to register to vote and for applications for postal voting. This functionality is provided for the convenience of the user and to minimise the effort required to complete these applications. Please note that the application process is not finished until the user has completed the online process, printed their form, signed it by hand, and sent it back to their local electoral registration office. The appropriate address details are provided during the form-filling process based upon the postcode entered by the user. You can also find contact details for your electoral registration office just by entering your postcode in the “Your local area” section of the site.
• Please note that it is not possible to "submit" applications online since a hand-written signature is required for voting security reasons, and since applications must be returned to local electoral registration offices and not to a central point of contact. Electoral registration is by law managed by local electoral registration offices - The Electoral Commission itself does not and cannot process the applications, so you should not send your application to us.
• Since applications are not submitted online, the website does not retain personal information entered by the user beyond the duration of time spent completing the form-filling process. To ensure the security of the application details they are not carried across from one form-filling process to another - such as from the electoral registration process to the postal vote application process. The only exception to this is the user's postcode (as entered by them) which the site requires to provide them with location-specific information (such as the details of their local electoral registration office).
• When completing the form-filling processes on the website, users will be forced to connect to the server using HTTPS - a secure server connection.  This will ensure that personal data that is entered by users will be protected when transferred to and from the server.
• Following an application via the form-filling process, the only information retained by the site is: the user's postcode (as entered by them); the date and time of the application; the applicant's local electoral registration office (as determined by their postcode); and the user's client IP address. Each application is also allocated a random unique reference number. This information is stored securely and can only be accessed by the website's administrators. This information will generally only be accessed in specific circumstances such as a request from the Police. The information will not be used to contact users without their prior consent.

Website security testing

• As part of the development of the website an application security assessment was conducted. This was conducted using the software WebInspect from HP Software (formerly SPI Dynamics). WebInspect is an industry standard security and penetration testing tool for web applications.  Find out more about the software WebInspect.