Registering on the electoral roll is compulsory under UK law and can land you with a fine of up to £1,000 if you fail to, or give false details. But where does the information go?

Under the Freedom of Information Act, we asked Swale Borough Council to tell us who has bought the register, how much money has been generated from its sale and what the information it contains can be used for.

There are two versions of the register – a full version and an edited version. The full version is only available to credit reference agencies, but only to check your name and address if you are applying for credit. It can be harder to get credit if you are not registered.

The full register can also only be used for law enforcement and for electoral purposes by political parties and anyone can view the full register at the local authority office, but under supervision.

The edited register can be sold to anyone who wants to buy it.

However, the majority of enquiries received by the electoral services team for the purchase of the edited

register don’t result in a sale once the prospective purchaser realises around 35 per cent of electors have omitted their details.

This is done at the time of registering and you tick a box to say that you only want your details to appear on the edited register.

Despite the low percentage of people allowing their details to be included on the edited register, from January 2003 to December 2007, it has been bought several times, generating £7,710.90.

The register is sold for a statutory fee set by the Electoral Commission, and over the last two years the income from the sale of the edited register has produced an annual total of £277.50 and £349.50 respectively.

Four credit reference agencies have been sold a copy of the full register, and the edited register has been sold to two marketing companies, two estate agents and the Pentecostal Church.

The council has received complaints about the sale of the register, but these pre-date 2002 when the edited version was introduced and details about the nature of them were unavailable from Swale Borough Council.

To find out which companies have bought the register, see your Kent Messenger Sittingbourne edition newspaper.