Data removal. Updated 2026-09-13. About 5 minutes to read.
Use the privacy option your electoral system offers, such as the UK open register opt-out, Australian silent enrolment or a US address confidentiality program, instead of leaving the roll.
Registering to vote puts your name and home address on an official list. Depending on where you live, that list can be inspected by the public, sold to political campaigns, bought by businesses, or copied into people-search databases. It never shows who you voted for, but it can show where you live.
You should not stop voting to protect your privacy. Every country covered here has a lawful way to keep your address off the public version of the roll, and most are free. Some are open to anyone, like the UK open register opt-out. Others are for people whose safety is at risk, like silent enrolment in Australia and address confidentiality programs in the US.
Every US state gives some access to voter records to political parties and candidates. Beyond that, the rules vary widely. In Florida, voter registration information is a public record, including name, address, date of birth, party, phone number and email address, with exemptions for protected groups. In Utah, name, addresses, age range, party and voting history are available unless a voter qualifies for at-risk status. California treats its voter file as confidential and releases it only for election, scholarly, journalistic, political and government purposes.
Most states restrict commercial use of voter data, but it still spreads. Campaign data firms combine it with consumer data, some people-search sites list voter files among their sources, and some organisations publish state voter rolls online.
On many US registration forms, phone number and email address are optional. In a state where those fields become public, leaving them blank keeps two of the most useful details for scammers off the record.
Enrolling to vote is compulsory for Australian citizens aged 18 and over. The full Commonwealth electoral roll, showing the names and addresses of all electors except silent electors, can be inspected at AEC offices. The AEC does not give electors' phone numbers to anyone, including political parties.
If having your address on the roll could put your safety or your family's safety at risk, you can apply to be a silent elector. Your address will not appear on future editions of the public roll.
Silent enrolment only affects future rolls. If you apply for the address you are already enrolled at, that address will still appear on rolls already in the public domain. If you are moving to escape a risk, apply when you enrol at the new address, so only your name and division ever appear.
The UK keeps two versions of the electoral register. The full register is used for elections, campaigning, preventing and detecting crime, checking credit applications and summoning juries. The open register, called the edited register in Northern Ireland, can be bought by any person, company or organisation, including for marketing. People-search sites such as 192.com draw on it.
You can opt out of the open register at any time through the register to vote service or by contacting your local electoral registration office. It does not affect your right to vote, and your details stay on the full register. If your safety would be at risk, you can apply for anonymous registration instead, which keeps your name and address off both registers.
Elections Canada's register is not a public document. It shares lists of electors, containing your name, address and a unique identifier, with candidates, members of Parliament and registered and eligible political parties, who may use them only for authorised purposes. You can opt out of the National Register of Electors without losing your right to vote. If you do, you register at your local Elections Canada office during an election or at your polling place. Provincial and territorial voter lists are run separately, so check their rules as well.
In some US states, yes, through a public records request or a site that republishes the file. In Australia, only by inspecting the roll at an AEC office. In the UK, anyone can buy the open register unless you opt out. In Canada, the register is not public.
No. The secret ballot means no voter file shows how you voted. Some US states do release whether you voted in each election, which is called voting history.
No. You lose your vote, and in Australia enrolment is compulsory. Use the privacy option your system provides instead, such as silent enrolment, anonymous registration, the open register opt-out or a confidentiality program.
Sites that bought earlier editions of the register can still hold your old entry. Opt out of the open register first so no new copy includes you, then ask the site to remove your listing.