Over 300 councils have sold on people’s names and addresses, according to a new report from privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch.
According to freedom of information requests, 307 local authorities sold the edited electoral register to companies ranging from pizza shops to estate agents over a five-year period.
The group is calling for the Government to abolish the edited register or to allow people to permanently opt-out of the current system.
Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: ‘Registering to vote is a basic part of our democracy and should not be a back door for our names and addresses to be sold to anyone and everyone.
‘Many people don’t realise that the pizza shops and estate agents drowning their doorsteps with junk mail are able to do so because their local council is forced to sell the names of every voter who fails to tick the right box when they register to vote.’