ARTICLE...
The Electoral Roll
In July 2008 many people were disturbed to hear the contents of the Gordon Brown commissioned 'Data Sharing Review'. In it was a recommendation to abolish the edited electoral roll.
Understandably this provoked a strong reaction across a variety of industries - not least those in the 'direct marketing' and 'collections' sectors, both of which rely heavily on the edited electoral roll.
Happily the recommendation has not been implemented and the edited roll is still available. However it isn't all good news. Whilst the roll is still alive and kicking, its value as a useful resource to the industries mentioned above has been severely dented.
With an increasing level of 'opt outs' - where individuals choose not to have their details listed in the commercially available edited roll - the percentage of the UK population contained within the roll had dwindled.
However, there is a way forward for the collections industry - an extension of the uses of the full electoral roll.
Currently, in accordance with the Representations of People Act 2001 (amended 2002), the only permissible uses of the full electoral roll - other than the obvious - are to vet credit applications and to help stop money laundering. Both of these are reasonable uses. Credit application scoring is a key element in the provision of credit. It is essential to the economy. Likewise, preventing money laundering is of public interest.
However, this restriction to just two uses - especially when there are other legitimate purposes kicking around - seems more than a little narrow minded.
Of course, this brings up an old argument: why should the full electoral roll not be used to help locate those who have defaulted on credit agreements? It is somewhat contradictory that whilst it is alright to use it as a reference for providing credit it can't be used when attempting to find that person if they fail to repay.
Similarly, why limit the 'criminal' application to money laundering? It is not too far a leap to see the roll used to combat identity-related crimes.
The Electoral records could be a key way to confidently identify people and access to them would allow companies to protect themselves and consumers from fraud, directly helping both parties.
In addition to extending the permitted uses, it would seem appropriate to extend its availability too. There's no reason why, if properly regulated, debt collection and fraud prevention agencies shouldn't hold the full roll for appropriate purposes.
So, in the aftermath of the 'Data Sharing Review', let's hope Whitehall considers a review of how the full electoral roll is used too...
Original article, by Chris Rothwell (Sales Director at Tracesmart), courtesy of CCR. For further information visit www.ccrmagazine.co.uk
