Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Cruz app data collection helps campaign read minds of voters
AP ^ | February 11, 2016 | MICHAEL BIESECKER and JULIE BYKOWICZ

Posted on 02/11/2016 5:25:41 PM PST by McGruff

His "Cruz Crew" mobile app is designed to gather detailed information from its users' phones -- tracking their physical movements and mining the names and contact information for friends who might want nothing to do with his campaign.

That information and more is then fed into a vast database containing details about nearly every adult in the United States to build psychological profiles that target individual voters with uncanny accuracy.

Cruz's sophisticated analytics operation was heralded as key to his victory in Iowa earlier this month -- the first proof, his campaign said, that the system has the potential to power him to the nomination.

(Excerpt) Read more at bigstory.ap.org ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2016election; cnsrvtvtreehouse; cruz; data; datamining; election2016; erickerickson; glennbeck; juliebykowicz; marklevin; megynkelly; michaelbiesecker; pinkstain; pinkstate; politico; privacy; redstate; redstategathering; rogerailes; sundance; tedcruz; texas; theresanappforthat
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last
Data-mining to help candidates win elections has been increasing among both Republicans and Democrats. Mobile apps by other presidential campaigns also collect some information about users.

But The Associated Press found the Cruz campaign's app -- downloaded to more than 61,000 devices so far -- goes furthest to glean personal data.

The Cruz app prompts supporters to register using their Facebook logins, giving the campaign access to personal information such as name, age range, gender, location and photograph, plus lists of friends and relatives. Those without a Facebook account must either provide an email address or phone number to use the app.

1 posted on 02/11/2016 5:25:41 PM PST by McGruff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: McGruff

I wonder if he received divine unction to use that app.


2 posted on 02/11/2016 5:27:33 PM PST by odawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: McGruff

The mind reading is not working. If it was, the campaign would have stopped sending me emails and calling me months ago.


3 posted on 02/11/2016 5:28:04 PM PST by patq
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: McGruff

Many cried when Romney and McCain lost using 20th Century technology and now they’ll wail that Cruz is “cheating” by using up-to-date techniques.


4 posted on 02/11/2016 5:30:28 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (TED CRUZ 2016)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: patq

I’m getting them too. Even getting emails treating me as one of his closest, best buddies and supporters, even though I’ve never given him a dime.


5 posted on 02/11/2016 5:32:37 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: patq

You too?

Not sure how I even got on their mailing list.

I have more SPAM in my junk mailbox from Ted in the past 6 months than I had in that folder for the past 3 years.


6 posted on 02/11/2016 5:32:40 PM PST by digger48
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: odawg

Must be the “facebook of Gawd”.


7 posted on 02/11/2016 5:32:59 PM PST by dforest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Liberals love illegal immigrants and Muslim invaders, too. Should we copy everything? Or just the invasions of privacy?


8 posted on 02/11/2016 5:33:47 PM PST by 20yearsofinternet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
up-to-date techniques.


9 posted on 02/11/2016 5:33:59 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: dforest

PUT your HANDS on the cell phone-uh!


10 posted on 02/11/2016 5:34:21 PM PST by Psalm 144 (Vote Tom Sawyer, because Sid is a sissy snitch and Tom gets the fences whitewashed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: McGruff

Details on nearly everybody? Must have one heck of a server!


11 posted on 02/11/2016 5:34:43 PM PST by D Rider
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: patq; McGruff

Ditto.
I’ve kindly explained my situation to the campaign and asked several times to please not call me for donations.


12 posted on 02/11/2016 5:34:53 PM PST by onyx (IF YOU'RE POSTING HERE, HOPE YOU'RE A DONOR! FReepLoaders are RUDE.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: onyx

If he can track you movement are you going to get a text on primary day “We see you haven’t voted yet, your neighbors have”


13 posted on 02/11/2016 5:40:11 PM PST by McGruff (if winning the election is your thing Trump is your guy)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

It’s actually hilarious to see modern marketing compared to time travel. It’s like they’ve discovered an unknown galaxy.


14 posted on 02/11/2016 5:42:02 PM PST by hollyweed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Yep, analytics is the foshizzle these days - went to a Boston meetup yesterday evening that had 350+ people to see a presentation on techniques for text analytics on the last 100 years of state of the Union addresses. Very interesting stuff that comes out of it.

This kind of stuff is akin to what the Brits and Americans did to the krauts in ww2 with code breaking. One can literally see the patterns that the unskilled are aware of sub-consciously or feel “intuitively” at best.


15 posted on 02/11/2016 5:48:17 PM PST by glorgau
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

“Peter Thiel, a German-born hedge fund manager and founder of the online payment system PayPal, gave Cruz $251,000 in 2009 for his aborted run for attorney general.”

https://www.texastribune.org/2012/07/03/ted-cruzs-gay-billionaire-donor-draws-criticism/

“Peter Thiel’s Palantir Just Raised $450 Million”

“Palantir is a big-data company that can sift through vast amounts of data to find patterns, answer questions, and solve problems. It serves various government agencies including the military, law enforcement and spy agencies like the CIA and NSA. It also counts Wall Street financial firms, pharmaceutical firms and other big companies as clients.”

http://www.inc.com/business-insider/palantir-raised-a-450-million-dollar-investment.html


16 posted on 02/11/2016 5:49:21 PM PST by patq
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Psalm 144

“PUT your HANDS on the cell phone-uh!”

Yeah, like the radio Rev Ike in Chicago years ago, “let’s all put our hands on the radio and be united in prayer!” And we think the muzzies are nuts! Just think, if this is what Cruz will do to get elected, just think of what he would be capable of as President. Calling Jeff Dunham!


17 posted on 02/11/2016 5:53:04 PM PST by vette6387
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: McGruff

This data collection has been used by us political types for many decades..long before computers. We would get a Reverse Telephone Directory and match it up with the printed list of voters. We would give each person a key sometimes the key was based on the name, sometimes on the address. We would develop codes for all the hot button issues, plus the non-issue interests, spors teams, children, clubs, church, etc.

We would paste it to pages of a loose leaf binder, typically a 4x6 binder we could fit in a suit jacket pocket.

As we went door-to-door we would enhance the codes in the book. We would enter the names of people new to the area not yet in the phone book that only came out once a year. We would get them registered to vote and keep track of whom we got registered.

US census said 12,000 lived in the quarter sq mi area I considered my-area. I had well over 95% of the families in the little black book. The average family in the book probably averaged 10 or more codes. How many Alinksy pickets they went to and which ones. How many anti-urban renewal meetings they went to, etc.

My biggest meeting had over 2,000 people protesting urban renewal. That’s over 10% of the population and over 20% of the adults, over 40% of adult citizens.

So the big difference is now the data is centralized. Before, the local volunteer controlled the data. Now the central computer controls the data and feeds it to the volunteer who did not collect it himself and has no idea how accurate it is.

Karl Roves database was extremely low quality, much worse quality than the anti-establishment database I built.

I haven’t worked with any of the databases this cycle. So I don’t know what their accuracy and relevance rate is. They can never be perfect. But some can be much better than others.


18 posted on 02/11/2016 6:01:32 PM PST by spintreebob
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

It is not “up-to-date” to send me multiple emails, mailers and yesterday a call. Where did Cruz get my information as I didn’t give it nor agree for anyone else to. That is almost harassment especially when I have unsubscribed multiple times to the email.


19 posted on 02/11/2016 6:06:27 PM PST by nclaurel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: McGruff

Fail.


20 posted on 02/11/2016 7:28:33 PM PST by TornadoAlley3 ( I'm Proud To Be An Okie From Muskogee)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-26 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson