SYDNEY: Political parties in Australia are using voter email addresses to find matching social media profiles, media reports said on Sunday.

They are combining the addresses with the country’s compulsory electoral roll data.

Australia has become one of the countries in the world to gather online information by political operatives. It should be noted that the use of public profiles and data from social media such as Facebook and Twitter for political campaigning has become widespread globally.

Australia goes to the polls on May 18. (Agencies)