DPC statement on Facebook Election Day Reminder

27th February 2020

In advance of the recent Irish General Election on 8 February, the Data Protection Commission (DPC) notified Facebook Ireland that the Facebook Election Day Reminder (EDR) feature raised a number of data protection concerns particularly around transparency to users about how personal data is collected when interacting with the feature and subsequently used by Facebook. The DPC sought a number of remedial actions from Facebook. However, as it was not possible to implement these in advance of the Irish election Facebook decided not to launch the EDR during the election. Facebook has confirmed that the Election Day Reminder feature will not be activated during any EU elections pending a response to the DPC addressing the concerns raised.