From a few hours started the last week of the campaign for regional elections to be held and administrative offices on 28 and 29 March 2010, traditionally, this is the week most intense (and aggressive) in which intensified meetings, phone calls and leaflets. This year, more than others, and political parties are using the Web and social networks, does not always work correctly.
For this, my colleague (and friend) Stephen LaGuardia , we wrote an article to try to outline the rules applicable to electioneering 2.0. I report the text, which can be downloaded in. Pdf by clicking here .

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The rules of political campaigning online
After the closing of the lists of candidates for regional elections and administrative 2010, the campaign has begun in earnest: the cities, as usual, were full of posters of parties and candidates, radio and television commercials and host election forums. However, as already happens for some years, the electioneering is conveyed not only through traditional means, such as 6 × 3 huge posters, fliers, called "holy" and the door to door, but there is an increasing use most massive of new technologies, which have the advantage of reaching large numbers of voters with relatively low cost.
The use of tools such as email or web sites prepared specifically for the electoral contests are no longer a novelty and, immediately, have posed problems in terms of compatibility with existing laws, especially in regard to privacy; virtual political propaganda, in fact, is not completely free but subject to the same rules as the real one.
It is no accident that, in the vicinity of polling, the Guarantor for the protection of personal information to adopt appropriate measures, the last was published a few weeks ago (precisely in the Official Gazette no. the 43 Feb. 22, 2010) and follows the rules already laid down in a general measure of 2005 , pointing to political parties and candidates for the procedures under which the person making electioneering can correctly use the personal data of citizens (such as postal address, phone number, e-mail).

First, the Ombudsman recalls how to contact voters and send their propaganda, political parties, political organizations, committees, sponsors, supporters and candidates can use without the consent of the citizens only the data contained in the electoral rolls held by the municipalities and the data Personal subscribers and members. They can also be used on other lists and registers to vote and stand for (ie list of Italian voters living abroad) and other documentary sources held by public bodies are accessible to everyone, such as professional associations (to the extent that the statute of the relevant Order provides for the ability to know). The elected representatives may use data collected in the context of relationships they had with citizens and voters (including, for example, e-mail addresses).
Instead, personal data collected as required in the exercise of professions and business can not be used, by the time that the purpose of propaganda is not attributable to the purposes for which the data were collected as a result, the ' entrepreneur or professional candidates can not use your address book or your customer list vendors to send election material.
Moreover, unless the data has not been provided directly by, consent is required for addresses collected on the Internet or obtained from forums and newsgroups: the Guarantor, in fact, has repeatedly claimed that any availability of an address on the Web does not make it for that reason also available for sending unsolicited electronic communications.

(Picture of s ilenceofthelambert )

The election campaign on social networks
In recent years, however, the technological tools available to candidates and parties have evolved, especially with the advent of Web 2.0 and social networks. More and more people, understanding the effectiveness of social media like Facebook, Twitter or Friendfeed, have begun to use this as a genuine vehicle for electioneering.
And so it rarely happens that in these times of turmoil dictated by the approach of elections, you receive unexpected friend requests, your bulletin board is filled with propaganda messages or be "tagged" in a note or a picture of some candidate.
One wonders, however, the extent to which these behaviors can be considered compatible with the existing rules, in fact, often a way to use social networks on the part of candidates becomes too invasive, like junk mail.
There are limits on the use of these tools? And 'lawful voters-tag friends in a campaign poster? These and similar questions we might have expected to find an answer in the last measure of the Privacy Authority, but - on the contrary - first mentioned in the document there is no specific reference to the use of the tools of Web 2.0 (the general measure called In fact, dates back to 2005).
However, by reading the Privacy Code (Legislative Decree no. N. 196/2003) and principles enucleated by the Authority to date, you can try to draw some guidelines for the use of social networks for the purposes of electoral propaganda so as to avoid disputes, litigation and liability.

The candidate wants to be my friend
If a political party, an electoral committee or a candidate decides to follow us or request our friendship on a social network in the election campaign is highly likely to want to send messages of political propaganda. To avoid this, assume great importance to the so-called "self-defense", ie the careful management and aware that every user must care for their personal data. This means, first, to avoid - if you will - that our profiles are indexed by search engines.
However, if a candidate fails us, the mere request of friendship can not be considered illegal. Once you become friends, candidates can not legitimately be used without consent of the published data on the profiles of his friends-voters (such as phone numbers and email addresses).

If you tag me is not worth
A fast tool for election propaganda, much in vogue as invasive, is to "tag" their friends (ie, signal their presence) in notes or photographs published on the candidate profile.
Here again the basic question is whether the candidate can freely tag friends without their prior consent, in notes or photographs contained propaganda that have no connection with the subject tagged (for example, the party symbol or image of a manifest).
In this respect, it is useful to recall that the Guarantor, as recently pointed out the precautions to be taken on social networks , has already said that we must avoid putting images appear where other people who have not consented to the publication.
Such caution should be followed with even more care with reference to the "electoral tags" as they are revealing political opinions and membership in political parties and organizations, which are sensitive to art. 4 D. Decree no. 196/2003 (Privacy Code). Consequently, in the absence of a prior consent, the tag on notes or images election may be unlawful and detrimental to the legislation on personal data privacy.

The candidate writes to me
Another way to use social networks for propaganda purposes is represented by the sending of messages from the political to their contacts, this can be done in private, with the transmission of direct communication (so-called "DM"), either by posting messages on the bulletin board of your contacts.
If such activity is legal or not is rather complex question, whose resolution passed for the correct definition of the concept of friendship on social networks.
In fact, if we think that accepting a friend request implies consent to receive all kinds of messages (including advertising and propaganda) from the new contact, we must consider the legitimate activities of the applicant.
Otherwise - and this is the opinion of the writer - applying by analogy the precepts already identified by the Guarantor, the messages of political propaganda can be sent in unsolicited DM and message boards on prior consent from their contacts.

Ernesto Belisario
Stephen Laguardia