Early upload of 2013 Electoral Roll gives Tracesmart head start

Nov. 30, 2012 - PRLog -- Committed to providing its customers with the latest data at the earliest possible opportunity, Tracesmart has integrated the 2013 Electoral Roll data into its systems, making it the first company to supply the pivotal information within its tracing and identity verification products.

The release will allow Tracesmart’s clients to utilise the latest electoral canvass, which provides the most accurate overview of the UK’s population and is deployed within Tracesmart’s products to help trace people, verify an individual's identity, conduct employee background checks and find lost account holders.  

UK electoral data exists in two formats, the 'full' Electoral Roll, which contains the entire electorate and can only be used for limited purposes and the 'edited' Electoral Roll which is the resultant version following opt-out and may be utilised for many different commercial activities. In contrast to the preceding years when the opt-out rate was increasing steadily, the last three years have witnessed a fall.

The opt-out rate for this year to date is 39.7%, a reduction of 0.6% compared to last year; however, there are significant variances across the country. The biggest change nationwide so far comes from the Vale of Glamorgan with a significant opt-out reduction from 92% to just 17.5% this year. Tracesmart understands that this local authority issued last year a pre-ticked opt-out option to all canvass recipients but removed the pre-ticked option this year, which had a dramatic impact on their opt-out rates. The lowest opt-out rate so far for the year also comes from Wales, with Merthyr Tydfil at 10.5%.

The most prominent rise was seen in West Somerset, which increased its opt-out rate from a low of 36.4% in 2012 to 51.6%, an uplift of 15.2%.

Over many years Tracesmart has amassed in excess of 3 billion records including more than ten years of historic Electoral Roll information. Data is continually updated to ensure the company’s systems generate the most relevant and productive information available. Upload of the 2013 Electoral Roll is nearing completion and to ensure it remains up-to-date, Tracesmart will integrate the Rolling Register, a monthly update of approximately 250,000 records to reflect the continual changes that occur in people's personal circumstances.

Commenting on the latest upload, Tracesmart's Technical Director, Paul Weathersby remarked, "We strive every year to be the first to upload the newly released Electoral Roll data. The more current the information, the better the results we can provide. Businesses nowadays demand the most current and authoritative residency data available and our commitment to constantly update our data is one of the reasons we can boast a near 100% client retention rate.”  

ENDS

Notes to editors:

About Tracesmart
Established in 1999 in Cardiff, Tracesmart is a leading provider of consumer intelligence services. Specialists in the provision of both online tracing and identity verification solutions, Tracesmart is prominent in the pension, legal, financial and retail sectors. Its fraud prevention and anti-money laundering solutions are employed by a growing legion of businesses ranging from SME to FTSE 100 listed companies.

Paul Weathersby
Tracesmart’s Technical Director, Weathersby oversees the company’s extensive networks, systems and databases, ensuring quality is continuously maintained and data management and security is of the highest level. In addition, he oversees Tracesmart’s substantial IT department.