Breach date: 2016-03-27. Added to this index: 2016-04-14. Accounts affected: about 229K. Domain: comelec.gov.ph.
What happened
In March 2016, the Philippines Commission of Elections website (COMELEC) was attacked and defaced, allegedly by Anonymous Philippines. Shortly after, data on 55 million Filipino voters was leaked publicly and included sensitive information such as genders, marital statuses, height and weight and biometric fingerprint data. The breach only included 228k email addresses.
Breach data sourced from Have I Been Pwned, used under CC BY 4.0. Additional breach metadata provided by XposedOrNot. DataExposed is an independent service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by either.
What was exposed
Biometric data: Measurements of your body used to recognise you: fingerprint templates, face geometry, iris scans, voice prints and sometimes palm or vein patterns. Workplaces, gyms, banks and identity verification services collect them.
Dates of birth: Your full birth date, day, month and year, collected at signup for age checks, identity verification, insurance quotes, birthday offers or government services.
Email addresses: The email address you used to register or log in. It is the most common field in breaches because it doubles as your username on most sites.
Family members' names: Names of your partner, children, parents, siblings or other relatives, stored as emergency contacts, beneficiaries, household members, family tree entries or authorised users on an account.
Genders: The gender or sex recorded on your profile, usually picked from a list at signup, sometimes with a title such as Mr or Ms or a gender identity option beyond male and female.
Job titles: Your role or position, such as accounts payable officer, nurse or IT administrator, recorded by professional networks, business software, event registrations and marketing lists.
Marital statuses: Your relationship status, such as single, married, de facto, separated, divorced or widowed, collected by insurers, lenders, government forms, dating apps and marketing surveys.
Names: Your first name, surname and sometimes middle name or initials, as you gave them when you signed up. It appears in almost every breach because nearly every account asks for it.
Passport numbers: The unique number printed on your passport, often stored with your full name, nationality, date of birth and expiry date by airlines, hotels, travel agents, exchanges and identity verification services.
Phone numbers: Your mobile or landline number, collected at signup for contact, delivery updates, marketing and two-factor codes.
Physical addresses: Your residential, postal, billing or delivery address, stored by retailers, utilities, banks, government services and almost any company that sends you something.
Physical attributes: Details describing your body and appearance, such as height, weight, build, eye colour, hair colour and body type, common on dating, fitness and health services.
What to do now
Check whether your own address is in this dataset with the free email breach check.
Review the accounts connected to this service and turn on two-factor authentication.
Turn on two-factor authentication on your email account first, because it is the reset path for everything else.
Treat calls and messages that quote real details about you as hostile until you verify them another way.
Frequently asked questions
What data was leaked in the COMELEC (Philippines Voters) breach?
The COMELEC (Philippines Voters) breach exposed Biometric data, Dates of birth, Email addresses, Family members' names, Genders, Job titles, Marital statuses, Names, Passport numbers, Phone numbers, Physical addresses, Physical attributes. About 229K accounts were affected.
Was I affected by the COMELEC (Philippines Voters) breach?
Run the free email breach check with the address you used on that service. It will tell you whether your address appears in this dataset.
What should I do about the COMELEC (Philippines Voters) breach?
Treat any message that quotes details from this breach as suspicious, turn on two-factor authentication, and consider removing your details from people-search sites if your address or phone was included.