The Scum at the Top
Commentary on the Rats in Washington
GOP peers into voters' data with CD
By Tom Scheck
Minnesota Public Radio
© March 1, 2006
On Monday, the Minnesota Republican Party announced that
it will send out CD videos on Friday to inform voters about
the importance of a constitutional amendment to ban gay
marriage. It turns out the CD is also being used to add
to the GOP voter database. Officials with the Republican
Party say certain voter data is being collected by the
party. Internet privacy experts say they're concerned
that the party isn't telling the viewer that it's
collecting the data and worry where the information
will end up.
St. Paul, Minn. - The GOP says they intend to send
thousands of the CD-roms to a wide array voters who
may be concerned about the issue of gay marriage. The
compact discs contain video clips from four of Minnesota's
top elected officials. They talk about the cultural
dangers of gay marriage, activist judges and why an
amendment is needed to keep marriage between one man
and one woman...
Republican Party Chair Ron Carey said the video is an
attempt to get the DFL Senate to vote on a constitutional
amendment to define marriage as only between one man
and one woman. At the CD's unveiling, he never mentioned
that the party is also using the video to collect
information about those who view the video.
Here's how it works:
To watch the video, a person has to log onto the Internet
and punch in an identity code that tells the party who
is watching the video. Once the video is going, viewers
are asked questions on certain subjects like abortion,
the Second Amendment and their party preference.
Party officials distributed test copies of the CDs to
the media and have been open with the technology. They
were no disclaimers that the data was being collected
and transmitted.
Mark Drake, with the Minnesota Republican Party, says
information provided through the CD will be sent to a
server and will be used by the parties.
Initially Drake said people who were going to receive
the CD should assume the data is being collected because
the video is sent by the GOP, is interactive and that
the viewer has to provide their personal information. He
says the CD packets will now specify that the Republican
Party is collecting certain information.
Political parties and candidates spend a lot of time
and money collecting voter information especially since
Minnesota doesn't require voters to declare a political
party. The groups used to collect the data with good
old-fashioned shoe leather and a clipboard or by paying
for subscriber lists. Drake says the CD-ROM is the latest
way to collect the information.
"It's an ageless part of American politics and I don't
think it's anything that is particularly a big deal
beyond that it's high tech. It's not different than 30
years ago filling out a voter survey in your kitchen
and then mailing it in," he said.
Drake also pointed to Internet surveys by the DFL Party
and Education Minnesota as similar examples.
But some privacy advocates disagree. They argue that
someone who submits a survey on those sites is actively
providing information. It's not clear on the Republican
CD that the data is being transmitted back to the
Republicans, or even what other data about the user is
being extracted and sent.
Lillie Coney, the associate director of the Electronic
Privacy Information Center in Washington, says the GOP
CD should clearly indicate that the packet is not only
a video on gay marriage, but a tool to collect voter
data.
"Any time the consumer is providing information to an
entity and they're not aware of how that information
is being used or what purpose the information may be
put to, they're at a disadvantage," according to Coney.
"It's easier to tell people what's going on. It makes
for better relations."
Coney also says she has concerns that the data could
be accessed by a third party.
International Falls based CH Consulting is the company
that produced the video for the GOP. Christa Heibel,
the CEO of the company, says specific firewalls have
been added to ensure that the voter information is
protected. That was after Minnesota Public Radio was
able to access some of the data that was collected
during testing.
She also says the public should know through the CD's
packaging and by other means that voters will be
sharing information with the Republican Party.
"The packaging specifically uses the word 'interactive',
the presentation after each of the questions that we
are asking uses the words 'submit' and 'continue' and
I think the party has been very upfront about the fact
that they are obviously asking for this information to
receive that data back and they care about what the
voter has to say."
Reaction to the CD has created quite a stir on blogs,
Internet message boards and in the state Capitol.
DFL Sen. Steve Kelley of Hopkins, a candidate for
governor, is also one of the leaders on technology
issues at the Capitol. Kelley, who issued a statement
warning consumers about the CD, says the public should
be cautious whenever they are asked to submit information
to a third party.
"I think with this CD, for example, in order to make sure
that their privacy is protected, the best solution is to
throw it in the trash can," Kelley said.
Kelley is one of the author of the state's Internet
privacy laws in 2001 with then representative Tim
Pawlenty. That law prevents Internet Service Providers
from collecting personal information but didn't prevent
third parties from collecting it.
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January 13, 2007