THANK YOU BROTHER, RICIN
Data about potential voters—who they are, where they are, and how to reach them—is an extremely valuable commodity during an election year. And while the right to a secret ballot is a cornerstone of the democratic process, your personal information is gathered, used, and sold along the way. It’s not possible to fully shield yourself from all this data processing, but you can take steps to at least minimize and understand it.
Political campaigns use the same invasive tricks that behavioral ads do—pulling in data from a variety of sources online to create a profile—so they can target you. Your digital trail is a critical tool for campaigns, but the process starts in the real world, where longstanding techniques to collect data about you can be useful indicators of how you’ll vote. This starts with voter records.
Politicians have long had access to public data, like voter registration, party registration, address, and participation information (whether or not a voter voted, not who they voted for). Online access to such records has made them easier to get in some states, with unintended consequences, like doxing.
Campaigns can purchase this voter information from most states. These records provide a rough idea of whether that person will vote or not, and—if they’re registered to a particular party—who they might lean toward voting for. Campaigns use this to put every voter into broad categories, like “supporter,” “non-supporter,” or “undecided.” Campaigns gather such information at in-person events, too, like door-knocking and rallies, where you might sign up for emails or phone calls.
God Bless You and Your Families!
Love,
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