Umno Youth lodges police report over Invoke’s GE14 study

GE14 | A group of Umno Youth leaders today lodged a police report against thinktank Invoke, alleging that its latest electoral surveys utilised compromised personal data.

Umno Youth exco Ibdilillah Ishak said their report was lodged based on Invoke's "GE14 Prediction - What the Big Data Tell Us" survey report released earlier this month.

"In Invoke's report of their various surveys, they stated the methods they used to get responses and reactions from 17 million Malaysians across various platforms, which include phone calls, social media and using their volunteers.

"However, the report has raised doubts over how Invoke obtained such a large number of personal data belonging to ordinary Malaysians," Ibdilillah told reporters outside the Putrajaya district police station this afternoon, after lodging a report under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010.

Among others, the study predicted that Pakatan Harapan is expected to win five states in the upcoming 14th general election, while PAS will likely lose in all parliament and state seats it contests in.

In urging authorities to investigate the matter, Ibdilillah questioned the source of Invoke's data, and whether it had received permission from the Personal Data Protection Department to store and use the information.

"If it is true that Invoke is involved in stealing personal data, then they are no different from Cambridge Analytica, which had used the same approach to cheat the people through biased analysis," he said.

Ibdilillah was referring to the British data analytics firm caught up in controversy due to the improper use of personal data obtained through Facebook.

The company is alleged to have accessed the personal information of some 50 million Facebook users to build profiles of American voters, that were later used to help elect US President Donald Trump in 2016.

Ibdilillah, who heads the Umno Youth social media bureau, further accused Invoke of furthering an agenda, by coming up with a "fake result" on polling day for GE14, ahead of the official results by the Election Commission.

"I am very concerned that there would be unrest and political instability due to their tactics," he said.

Ibdilillah also noted that the group of Umno Youth leaders had earlier lodged a similar complaint with the Personal Data Protection Department.

When contacted, Invoke director Akmal Nasir told Malaysiakini that he would refer to his lawyer before issuing a comment. -Mkini