[kictanet] Poor show by IEBC: Data Protection in year 2017 and the case of raw voter registration data

[Emmanuel Chebukati]

Greetings,

Thinking out loud here: what are the alternatives to an open system? In my
view: Limiting requests per IP address would obviously lock out many users.
Implementing cookies et al to limit to one query per day would also lock
out several legitimate users (e.g. those who share PCs at cybers).
Introducing a username/password combo made out of perhaps the birth-date
would complicate matters for the average voter.

I think the only legitimate options they have to prevent abuse/mass mining
of this information is to implement a service like Cloudflare on the
subdomain. This would at least stop a repetitive CURL request in its tracks
or at least severely slow it down. Nevertheless, a quick IP ping shows that
it appears as though the subdomain voterstatus.iebc.or.ke is running on
Google Cloud servers which offer similar services as Cloudflare these days.
I trust the good people at IEBC have explored these services.

Let's brainstorm. Perhaps a legitimate, implementable solution may arise
from this discussion that works for the "Kenyan context".


Regards,

EC

On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 11:55 PM, Ronald Ojino via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> This is a very serious anomaly that must be addressed soonest possible. It
> begs the question, are we safe as data subjects? If a body like IEBC that
> is expected to be beyond reproach can have such open flaws...then we say
> that we are ready to go for elections huh?its a disappointment.
>
> On 29-Jun-2017 11:47 PM, "Mwendwa Kivuva via kictanet" <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Dear Listers,
>>
>> Today I'm wearing my CISA hat.
>>
>> IEBC has launched a voter verification tool both through sms, and web
>> query at http://voterstatus.iebc.or.ke/voter
>>
>> If you are privacy conscious, and a little bit paranoid, you will realize
>> that IEBC is doing badly with how they are exposing  raw data of nearly 20
>> million Kenyans to the world. Anybody with basic programing skills can be
>> able to harvest the raw data through an automated search. If you search any
>> random number with the format of Kenya ID numbers, say hypothetically
>> 12345678, you will realize you can pull up citizen's details, at least ID
>> number, and name, and where they live.
>>
>> Basic security tips would require the system to have a captcha to prevent
>> automated harvest of the information, and also have a challenge questions
>> like date of birth to supplement the ID number, therefore thwart any
>> mischievous individuals from harvesting the rich data
>>
>> Can IEBC correct the anomaly?
>>
>> Attached is a sample demo screenshot. Of course there is the other thing
>> of strange ID numbers finding their way into the voter register.
>>
>> Voter Details for Id: 12345678
>> Id / Passport Number 12345678
>> Primary Name KIBET
>> Secondary Name KIRUI
>> Birth Date 01/01/1994
>> Gender M
>> Polling Station Code 101
>> Polling Station LELACH PRIMARY SCHOOL
>> County KERICHO
>> Contituency BURETI
>> Ward CHEPLANGET
>>
>> ______________________
>> Mwendwa Kivuva, Nairobi, Kenya
>> twitter.com/lordmwesh
>>
>>
>>
>>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
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