IP: Web Tracking and Data Matching Hit the Campaign Trail

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

Date: Thu, 23 Dec 99 20:40 PST

From: lauren () vortex com (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator)

Subject: Web Tracking and Data Matching Hit the Campaign Trail

Greetings. In yet another example of the "if it's legal, someone will do it"
school of data matching and web tracking, it has been revealed that the two
leading Republican presidential candidates, Sen. John McCain and Texas Gov.
George W. Bush, have contracted with Aristotle Publishing
(http://www.aristotle.org) to target web users by matching web browsing
habits and web site signup data with actual voter registration records.

Apparently these are the only two presidential candidates currently making
use of this service, as announced by an Aristotle spokesman.
Aristotle, which describes itself as a "thriving, growing, profitable firm,"
provides "tools" to political campaigns to "influence public opinion" and
"win votes." Their web site apparently can only be viewed if you have
javascript enabled--without it you could simply see a blank page.

You may have already been justifiably concerned about DoubleClick, Inc.'s
tracking of your behavior over the web, but Aristotle takes consolidation of
personal data to a whole new level, by actually combining the information
that has been provided by web users (e.g. for various "freebie" web
giveaways), with specific and detailed political data such as voter location
and party affiliation information, obtained from voter registration roles.
Maybe you wondered why you seemed to be getting something for nothing at
those web sites, and what would really happen to that information you
provided to them? Well, now you know. Welcome to the big time.
Once you've been targeted by this system, you'll be presented with the
designated candidates' political banner ads on at least 1500 web sites,
including some major portal and news sites. Some of these ads, once
clicked, entice the user to enter various additional personal information
(some of which Aristotle says they don't record).

Of course, to the average web user, there's no clue that they've been the
subject of this sort of intensive data matching and rifling through their
voter registrations. Most users would probably just assume that the ads
popped up at random. Random? Surely you jest!

And golly gee whiz Mr. Wizard, you guessed it, this *is* all entirely legal.
Proponents claim that there've been no significant complaints about the
privacy aspects of the operation (perhaps that will change?), and they also
suggest that they're no more privacy-invasive than direct mail (wow, now
there's a "high" ethical bar to be shooting for if ever I've seen one...)
And in fact, Aristotle is obviously proud of the service, since they've
posted at least one outside press account on their own web site. (Will this
issue of the PRIVACY Forum Digest show up on there? They hereby have my
permission...)

Keep in mind that this is just the barest shadow of the sorts of "services"
likely to evolve in the near future, given the "wild west" attitude which
still prevails regarding personal information. It was bad enough when this
*only* involved search engines and ads for offshore gambling or mailorder
sales pitches. But the introduction of the political element directly into
the mix should give everyone cause for some serious concern. I dare say
that this calls into sharp focus the abysmal lack of regulations to control
the handling and abuse of personal information, regardless of its various
sources.

The power of web data collection, tracking, ad presentation, and similar
technologies, combined with other traditionally public record data sources
(and voter registration roles are just the tip of the iceberg) creates a
scenario that might cause Darth Vader to be jealous.

But of course, it's also possible to hold opposing points of view. Maybe
none of this actually matters? Perhaps some persons reading this might feel
that there really are no significant privacy problems with these sorts of
data collection and matching activities. Perhaps you're not all that
concerned about who gets your data or how it's used? Regardless of where
you stand on this issue, I'd be interested in hearing your views (please
remember to send submissions for possible inclusion in the Digest to
privacy () vortex com).

It does seem bizarre, however, that it appears to be impossible to register
to vote in this country without subjecting yourself to these sorts of
information manipulations, with apparently no real opt-out available.
Given these developments, perhaps it's no wonder that whenever I see the
glowing descriptions of plans for voting over the Internet (already a
reality for one state's primary and high on the wish list for
many states) I get a cold chill down the back of my spine...
Until next time, all the best for the holidays!
--Lauren--
lauren () vortex com
Lauren Weinstein
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Co-Founder, PFIR: People for Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy



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A Happy Holiday and a safe New Year

from Dave and GG Farber

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