Bautista double-talk about ‘ComeLeaks’ disfigures the law and official duty

To hear the double talk of Comelec chairman Andres Bautista, the hacking of the voters’ data of the Commission on Elections should be no cause for alarm. It is just an ordinary happening for the nation’s premier agency in supervising the exercise of suffrage and the election of our public officials in local and national government.

This is grievously mistaken about the crime of hacking and misguided in its idea of how the problem should be resolved. The original finding of the National Privacy Commission is that on March 2016 there was a data breach of the Comelec’s voters’ data base, which may be used by private hackers and could victimize the individual voters affected. It suggested further that affected voters can sue the Comelec and its chairman for damages. Several public watchdogs have expressed their intent to file suit.