Bangladesh Election Commission Voter Database Leaks on Social Media for Nominal Fees
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Sensitive personal data from the final voter list of Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary election is being openly sold on Facebook and Telegram for as little as 30 taka. An investigation by the digital rights research organization Dismislab has uncovered a widespread illicit trade involving the private details of millions of citizens, including full names, voter identification numbers, parental information, dates of birth, occupations, and permanent addresses.
The leaked data originates from the final voter list published by the Election Commission on November 18, 2025, ahead of the February 2026 national election. While the commission provided these lists to authorized candidates in a digital PDF format, the documents are now being peddled by dozens of social media accounts and pages. Dismislab’s inquiry identified over 500 posts across 15 different accounts promoting the sale of the lists, often through sponsored advertisements that direct buyers to Google Drive links containing organized folders for all eight administrative divisions of the country.
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During the investigation, researchers successfully purchased a copy of the national database for 250 taka via a mobile banking transaction. Upon verifying the files, they confirmed the authenticity of the personal data against known individuals. Beyond Facebook, the investigation also found that complete voter datasets are being distributed for free within various Telegram groups.
Responding to the security breach, Election Commission spokesperson Md. Ruhul Amin Mallik stated that while candidates were provided with digital copies of the voter list, the commission never authorized the sale of such data. He suggested the breach may have occurred at the local level if candidates or their representatives allowed the files to be accessed or copied at commercial computer centers.
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The incident has raised significant concerns regarding the efficacy of the Personal Data Protection Act of 2026, which came into effect in April. Although the law prescribes heavy administrative fines for data processors who fail to protect citizen information, legal experts note that applying these penalties to individual social media actors remains complex. The current legal framework is largely designed to hold institutional entities accountable, leaving a gap in enforcement when data is leaked or repurposed by third-party intermediaries.
Cybersecurity experts warn that the exposure of this information poses severe risks, including identity theft, financial fraud, and the creation of fake accounts for criminal activities. Professor B.M. Mainul Hossain, director of the Institute of Information Technology at the University of Dhaka, emphasized that institutions managing sensitive national databases must move beyond mere data collection. He urged these agencies to allocate specific budgets for cybersecurity infrastructure and implement regular audits to ensure that the personal details of citizens remain secure from exploitation.
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