The Central Elections Commission said it is investigating whether the Socialist Party app ‘Aktiv1st’ breaks the country’s electoral code.
Ilirjan Celibashi, head of Albania’s Central Elections Commission, CEC, said on Wednesday that it is seeking explanations from the ruling Socialist Party about an app, “Aktiv1st”, which it has offered, following queries from the opposition and civic groups.
“We have received a request from the Democratic Party regarding this matter and are evaluating what this app implies in relation to the law or the behaviour of the owner in relation to the electoral code”, he said.
He added that the CEC is only looking into the app regarding the electoral code, and not other laws – meaning that the CEC is not looking into laws such as the law for data protection.
“I believe that by next week we will have a decision or an evaluation from the CEC regarding this issue,” Celibashi concluded.
The Socialist Party presented the app a year ago as a “tool of communication” for party activists. The users win points by engaging with its content, including new stories that redirect users to the Facebook and Instagram pages of Socialist officials.
The app appears to be a means of raising the social media profile of the Socialist Party, which faces local elections in mid-May.
Critics in the past have drawn attention to the party’s use of such technology to gather data on would-be voters and manipulate social media.
They are suspicious of the latest app, citing a lack of specific Terms of Service and indications that it may not be as “voluntary” as the party insists.
As BIRN previously reported, some have seized on the Aktiv1st app as the latest way for the Socialist Party to exploit the public sector for its own electoral benefit, in a country where the state administration is widely seen as the fief of the party in power.
Aktiv1st is available for download from Play Store and App store; in a section explaining data safety, it is specified that photos, videos, files, documents, and other IDs may be shared with other companies or organisations, while the app may collect user data including location, email address, home address, phone number, and messages.
Clicking on the Terms of Service redirects the user to the Law on Data Protection, without explaining the app’s specific terms. The user must click that they accept the terms in order to use the app.
A civil society organisation called Civic Resistance, which works on issues of transparency, education, youths and politics in Tirana, has lodged a complaint with the Commission for Data Protection and the Right to Information.