Have you even wondered why you're seeing an ad online? In your social media feed, in apps, or while browsing the internet? What you see is determined in large part by your data. The exploitation of data dominates the news these days - and the use of advertising in politics is front and centre to this exploitation. Advertisers are able to buy access to very personal information about you and then infer even more about you. They are able to use this information to target ads at you with heightened precision, and to send you unique messages that are specially created to appeal to you and people like you. There are many actors in the business of amassing our data and using it to segment and profile us based on our behaviour - data brokers, ad tech, and platforms we use.
It's not only brands and advertisers selling cat t-shirts who are targeting you, political parties, political campaigns and those that work for them tap into and further exploit our data - and it's happening in the dark. Privacy International believes that you should be told and understand how your data is being used by companies and by political actors, and that there must be limits - your data should not be used against you.
In the run up to an election, concern at such attempts to influence and manipulate our views are heightened. This is why PI are working to challenge such practices. There are steps you can take to minimise the ads you see online and questions you can be asking of those that profit from your data. '
Visit https://privacyinternational.org/camp... for info and advice.
Some say data-driven technologies are an inevitable feature of modern political campaigning, that are a welcome addition to politics as normal and a necessary and modern approach to democratic processes; while others say that they are corrosive and diminish trust in already flawed political systems.
With our increased awareness of data violations and the understanding of data to violate privacy, take for instance the misuse of data recently by Cambridge Analytica and other companies associated with the firm that may have altered the outcome of both the U.S. presidential election and the U.K.'s Brexit referendum.
Chris Wylie, the former director of research at Cambridge Analytica, which has been accused of illegally collecting online data of up to 50 million Facebook users, said that his work allowed Donald Trump's presidential campaign to garner unprecedented insight into voters' habits ahead of the 2016 vote.
He added that a Canadian business with ties to Cambridge Analytica's parent company, SCL Group, also provided analysis for the Vote Leave campaign ahead of the 2016 Brexit referendum. This research, Wylie said, likely breached the U.K.'s strict campaign financing laws and may have helped to sway the final Brexit outcome.
People are increasingly aware of how data algorithms are used based on our online behaviors, from Amazon recommendations to targeted ads that follow us from site to site. Transparency, permission and maintaining privacy—for safety and to avoid manipulation--have all been major topics of whistle-blowers and social discourse.
Regulators and those with the remit to ensure that elections remain fair and free however did not listen to Edward Snowden’s warnings in 2013 about the danger that the misuse of personal data has on the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, and on democratic processes, that helps hinder free and fair elections. At at end of day we should all be on our guard about how we seek to protect our personal data and privacy as the misuse of our data in political campaigning continue to grow.
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