17th Nov 2011 at 16:26 | By Brian Sikma
EXCLUSIVE: Privacy Flaw in Recall System?
By: Brian Sikma
With the signature gathering phase of the Recall Walker effort only three days old, a flaw in the security of the system has been discovered. Under Wisconsin law there are no privacy protections for those who sign a recall petition. Those who sign a recall petition must give their name, address, and the date that they signed the document. That information could be given or sold to any political or business entity wanting a list of individuals who are opposed to Governor Scott Walker or are likely opposed to any of the reforms that he has put in place.
Walker recall petitions in Madison
More ominously, someone could use the guise of the recall to gather information from complete strangers and then, with no intention of actually turning the petitions in, use that data to stalk individuals with the intent of carrying out a crime. Petition circulators are not required to register with the GAB or be certified as legitimate circulators. This stands in contrast to the practice of some municipalities to require individuals to receive certification as special registration deputies in order to register people to vote.
When asked if there was anything to prevent political opponents, potential crooks, or businesses from lifting information off of recall petitions and using it for private, malicious or criminal purposes, the Government Accountability Board admitted that no protections exist.
“There is no restriction on how recall petition information may be used,” Reid Magney, spokesman for the GAB told Media Trackers on Thursday morning. That the information is available even after the petitions are filed is due to the fact that recall petitions are a matter of public record.
The complete lack of privacy protections is concerning to some people, particularly women. Mary Jo Baas, of Liberty House Consulting, said, “I would be afraid to sign any recall petition” that could be accessed by anyone and was circulated by someone with “no real accountability.” She went on to say, “I wouldn’t want my personal information, connected with my signature and political preferences, available to just anyone.”
Yet the connecting of all that personal information is exactly what happens in a Wisconsin recall election where petitions may be circulated by anyone and when the information on those petitions may be freely used for any purpose.
Before signing a recall petition, Wisconsin citizens would do well to check the credibility of the circulator while remembering that there is nothing to prevent someone from using their personal information for a malicious or annoying purpose. Individuals looking for easy targets of criminal endeavors could find a wealth of information on recall petitions while annoying businesses and unscrupulous scammers could save themselves a lot of time and effort by simply abusing the information made public by petition signers.
This story was updated on Monday morning, 11/21, to reflect the fact that recall petitions are a matter of public record.
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Discussion | 32 Comments on "EXCLUSIVE: Privacy Flaw in Recall System?"
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John Foust said
Nov 17, 2011 at 6:42 PM
Who would do such ominous, concerning, unaccountable thing? Someone opposed to the recall effort, or someone in favor of the recall?
Earache said
Nov 18, 2011 at 7:47 AM
Yes.
Meredith said
Nov 18, 2011 at 11:14 PM
People opposed to the recall. Rather than let the people’s will prevail, they will do anything to try and stifle them.
John Foust said
Nov 19, 2011 at 12:25 AM
It’s amazing they didn’t uncover this when the Republicans were running the clipboards for their fake candidates to force primaries.
Steve Hanson said
Nov 17, 2011 at 6:56 PM
I am not really sure I understand your point. All of the petitions will become public records. So – essentially anyone with access to the Internet will be able to read them eventually (except for the ones that someone may collect and never submit — but that would be a felony).
So yes — if you sign any political petition in the state, it becomes a public record and anyone can see it. I’m not sure what you think the GAB or anyone else can do about that without violating the state law??
canucanoe2 said
Nov 29, 2011 at 4:27 PM
If people really want names and addresses, then all they have to do is look at the property tax records. Owners and their addresses are there for anyone to look at. As far as the petitions revealing party affiliation is concerned, people of all political persuasions are signing the recall petitions, so that doesn’t factor in as much as the article implies.
Troy Evans said
Nov 17, 2011 at 7:41 PM
There are obviously 2 issues in the article, Mr. Hanson.
One being that our open records laws make this recall petition open to the public which lets anyone do anything they want with the info. That’s just a fact and privacy is certainly a concern when you are putting your name, address, and signature out there.
Two being the fact that anyone can gather signatures.
These are serious issues to both sides.
Steve Hanson said
Nov 17, 2011 at 8:19 PM
I think the point is that you are touting this as an “exclusive” and a “major security flaw” — when it is actually by design – I think you’re calling it a major security flaw when it is just the way it needs to be done. Certainly if you don’t want anyone to know you’ve signed the recall petition, you should not sign it.
I have very distinct privacy concerns about many things – but I do not see how this can be done differently. If you’re concerned about privacy — what do you suggest could be done in a different way?
My objection here is to the fact that you’re calling this some sort of “discovery” – it’s always been this way. Same thing happens if you make a political donation, or get a driver’s license.
Personally I was proud and happy to sign the petition. People who are REALLY concerned about privacy from the signature collectors can in fact collect their own signature and hand it in.
Now — if the concern here is that someone might sign the petition and believe that it is a secret document – yes, I can see the concern there. But the rest of this just strikes me as concern trolling – you’re just describing the way the procedure works, and not suggesting an alternative. In general, this just reads like a scare story intended to keep people from participating in the recall.
Steven H. said
Nov 17, 2011 at 10:05 PM
A lot of people don’t realize this when they sign this petition, Hanson. They don’t understand that their name will be out there for the mass marketers to snatch up.
If you sign that petition, you’re in for a hammering of union propaganda in your mailbox for as long as you live in your home. Some people might be fine with that, others may not.
You seem to not really care because it is what you support. I guess you want people to be ignorant about potential unwanted consequences of signing that petition.
Shame! Shame! Shame!
Jay Bullock said
Nov 18, 2011 at 2:02 AM
But, you know, the same is true for any signature gathering, like when nominating candidates or trying to get a referendum on the ballot. To say that this recall business is somehow newly and differently flawed is kind of, um, dumb.
rannan3 said
Nov 22, 2011 at 10:10 AM
From what I’ve read of the numerous school districts that have been able to balance their budgets and avoid both layoffs & paying the outrageously high, union-mandated health insurance coverage, it sounds like Gov. Walkers’s bill has already produced positive, cost-saving results..
Do you have facts to the contrary you could provide ??
MASS MARKETING MEL said
Nov 17, 2011 at 10:14 PM
WHEN I GET MY HANDS on 500-600K+ names and addresses, I know 500-600K people who are going to be getting hammered with junk mail. That’s what I do for a living.
I AM GOING TO target these people as being apt to purchase “green” products, donate to democrat campaigns, and other products that would tend to appeal to people with that political mindset!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Warner Saunders, Jr. said
Nov 18, 2011 at 7:57 PM
Liberal bloggers all whining about the recall process.
Ryan said
Nov 22, 2011 at 3:45 AM
I believe this article is actually “Whining” about the process Mr. Saunders.. Get with the program man!
Marlene said
Dec 6, 2011 at 4:26 AM
Gosh, Warner Saunders, Jr. , have politics changed since Walker his Milwaukee County position on a RECALL in 2003 0r 2004?
Meredith said
Nov 18, 2011 at 11:12 PM
There are already people planning on getting the names in order to invade signers privacy. The same people who have threatened to shred and burn petitions.
Marlene said
Dec 6, 2011 at 4:27 AM
I meant to say since Walker WON his position
capper said
Nov 19, 2011 at 5:30 AM
What’s even worse is that when you donate to a campaign, not only is all your information public, it’s online. All those poor people that donate to Scott Walker are opening themselves to all sorts of harassment and invasions of privacy and the culprits won’t even have to leave the comforts of their own home or office!
Marlene said
Dec 6, 2011 at 4:28 AM
Capper, are you kidding. The only ‘people’ contributing to Scott Walker are the Koch Brothers and other multi-million companies.
sickntired said
Nov 22, 2011 at 4:27 AM
Just scare tactics from the RIGHT! You are trying anything to get people to stop signing petitions. Why wasn’t this seen as a problem during the summer recalls. ANSWER: Because you were sure of winning. Now – you are concerned you my lose!! HA! HA!
slinky said
Nov 22, 2011 at 11:21 PM
Scare tactics? maybe you could interpret it that way…not quite as scary as threatening conservatives lives though, as was done by the LEFT! No one wants to keep legally qualified Wisconsin voters from signing any petitions, they just want to assure laws are followed. Or maybe are you concerned that YOU may lose???????
capper said
Dec 6, 2011 at 4:34 AM
No, not at all. There’s all they lobbyists and cronies hoping for comfy state jobs, like Brian Deschane, Jeff Plale, etc.
Adam said
Nov 22, 2011 at 3:51 PM
Have there been any reports of privacy issues relating to the previous recalls involving state seats? Why is this article only relating to Walker Recall efforts?
John said
Nov 29, 2011 at 12:59 AM
Speaking of public records, why is it not disclosed in the article that Mary Jo Baas a political consultant who was paid $9,000 by the GOP in 2008 for “messaging” and donated $400 to the Walker campaign in 2010? (Source: Dane101.com on Twitter) Or that she is a former employee of the Republican Assembly Caucus, or that last month Gov. Walker appointed her chair of the Wisconsin Women’s Council? (Source: wispolitics.com) No wonder she’s afraid to sign! And no wonder she’s trying to scare others into not signing.