Data mining and privacy are concerns that I deeply care about- at home I use Tor to keep my internet use as private as possible. When I use chrome at school, I block all cookies, except for the ones I whitelist. I deleted my Facebook and Snapchat, and don't log in to my instagram very often. I despise ads- especially targeted ones.
I think that the tactics employed by the Kerry campaign show the insidious possibilities behind the use of data to target people through ads. If campaigns can target people on very specific issues, they may force the person being "informed" to be subject to misconstrued or even false information. This might win the campaign a vote, but it leaves the voter misinformed and ignorant of other things that might be just as important, but less emotional (and thus less likely to change the voter's ballot). If the campaign is able to strike a chord with the voter, it is an emotional vote instead of a well-informed one. Voting on emotion instead of aggregate policy evaluation is dangerous, because it means that we aren't voting for the policy/policies that will help us the most. We might feel especially emotionally about a policy for one candidate, and if we are targeted for that we may decide to vote for them for that. However, if there exists a number of policies that another candidate supports that would help that voter much more, then the voter would ignore it because of an emotional issue.
I personally believe that freedom of thought is imperative for voters to make a calculated choice about who to cast their ballot for. I think that targeted ads based on our data isn't just an intrusion on data that should be mine and mine only, but also a threat to a properly informed population.
Well written post! Would you argue that the split that is occuring between the two main political parties is happening because more and more often people are voting on emotion and less on actual policies? Based on this new info and the documentary we watched earlier in the year about how congress is in gridlock, even though there are lots of policies we agree on, I think that it might have a lot of influence. I also find the "freedom of thought" point you brought up very interesting. I think it is something that deserves to be discussed more, but would be a hard "freedom" to defend.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that voting on emotion can potentially be dangerous. Just like Annabel mentioned, the gridlock comes from more from the unwillingness to associate with the opposing political side. It could be that because of the ads that have been targeted towards us, our opinions of the political parties and the policies they tend to support become more polarized.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some insightful points about privacy and how it relates to voting. I care about privacy issues as well, especially since they are becoming more and more pressing in this day and age. The way that politicians like Kerry use data mining for campaigning goes to show that securing votes is prioritized more than actually addressing the citizenry's needs. Candidates will bring up an issue that they know a certain part of the population will resonate with, but you do not actually know if they genuinely support it. Data mining only seems to further underlying political agendas.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I also believe that online privacy is very important, and I share your dislike for targeted ads. Currently, data is a very lucrative market, and “big data” has become a buzzword in the technology industry. Companies like Facebook and Google track users in ways that most people do not even realize. They not only record your activity while you are using their websites, but since they handle ad delivery for most websites, they can track you almost anywhere on the internet. Their mobile apps can also track your physical location, telling them what places you visit and who you are with. However, these ads allow their services to remain free. Personally, I would prefer to pay for their services but keep my data private.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.wired.com/story/google-tracks-you-privacy/