Taiwan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairman Michael You apologized Thursday after a website failure placed national ID numbers in nonpublic candidate files, leaving candidates’ personal data potentially accessible ahead of local elections.
The Administration for Cyber Security (ACS) said initial checks pointed to gaps in how the site screened data during processing and transmission. That left ID details in query files outside the usual public displays but potentially reachable by outsiders, the agency said. The CEC said its standard search screen did not show the numbers and downloadable PDFs masked personal details.
The Taiwan Go Go alliance said the files contained national ID numbers for 81 mayoral and county-magistrate candidates and 1,492 city and county council candidates, totaling 1,573 people. The alliance said the data were exposed for 11 days after disclosures went online Oct. 16 and that it notified the commission Oct. 27.
The CEC said it corrected the system and reopened the site Oct. 27. The ACS received the commission’s incident report that day and sent staff to review the site on Oct. 28. The agency said it was still assessing the impact and what further improvements might be needed.
CEC logs showed connections from 32 IP addresses that may have had access to the files, the commission said. Officials said the records could not establish whether anyone saved a copy. You apologized at a news conference Thursday, saying, “This kind of thing should not have happened,” Focus Taiwan reported.
You identified Acer E-Enabling Service Business (AEB) as the contractor and said early evidence suggested an accidental lapse, Focus Taiwan reported. A CEC official told Focus Taiwan the commission would consider compensation after the investigation, subject to its contract. You also proposed a second team to review contractor work before government verification, the outlet reported.
A CEC-hosted Legislative Yuan record refers to a separate 2022 disclosure incident, reported in 2023, involving identifiable information about spouses or children connected to 17 candidates in nine counties and cities. The CEC must keep candidate asset declarations online for a year after candidate lists are approved. Taiwan’s local elections are scheduled for Nov. 28.
