Did Obama sell your privacy? I think so...

First off, yes I voted for him. Secondly, I believe I'm now an Independent after witnessing this presidency. So politics aside, and focusing on the case at hand - did President Obama sell his campaign voter/supporter list?

I ask because I don't subscribe to any political newsletters or websites, I simply get my news each day not wanting my email box filled with political junk. I do regularly get emails from the Obama campaign, staffers and managers working there since I signed up for his campaign newsletter in 2008. And that's it. I'm serious about my main email being clutter free, so I don't use that account for newsletters or such, just the Obama campaign.

So I check my email and there's a message from Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin) waiting for me. I'm not from Wisconsin nor do I know anything about this senator. Anyway, my point is I believe that Obama sold his supporters emails list to at least Senator Kohl's campaign, which is weird because Obama's list is national and not state focused. And I wonder who else he may have sold it to.

A few questions for ATS/ers:

Q: Did you subscribe to Obama's mailing list and have got other politicians writing you now?

Q: Why would Obama do this, sell off the privacy of his user base? (Snarkiness aside, please)

Q: It's well known his campaign used electronic media better than any candidate in history, what do you think he'll do with all the info he collected in 2008 to used again in 2012?

*Obama wins 2008 Marketer of the Year award: adage.com...
*Senator Kohl wiki page: en.wikipedia.org...

And an equally interesting note, it appears Obama re-hired his top two digital media vets: www.huffingtonpost.com...

The email sent to me:

Yes.
I signed up for an Obama site and get emails from other politicians.
I signed up after Obama was sworn in and I signed my name as I Want My Vote Back, so the emails start out, "Dear I Want"

reply to post by kyred


That's clever, I like it.

I guess I'm asking can he do that? I signed up with a 2008 campaign not a 2012 campaign or with other politicians. Can he profit from the sales of millions of Americans email addresses? If he can, did that sale go into the campaign coffers (which I don't support this time around)?

My smell test says something is ethically off about what his campaign is doing with a huge database on the American voting public... if it's true.

I'm guessing you didn't read the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy when you signed up.

Because if you did...I'm sure it's in there...in fact...I'll go find it for you.

www.barackobama.com...

What Personal Information Do We Share With Third Parties?
It is our policy not to share the personal information we collect from you through our Sites with third parties, except as described in this Policy or as otherwise disclosed on the Sites. For example, we may share personal information as follows:
...
•with candidates, organizations, groups or causes that we believe have similar political viewpoints, principles or objectives;

So you are kind of complaining about something that you voluntarily agreed to...not fully reading the privacy policy doesn't make this the fault of Obama.

reply to post by OutKast Searcher


Edit. Thanks for posting that information, it does explain what I didn't read.

I'm not Obama bashing, I'm curious of how much money he made off my name? And where is that money going? (Now that I know his campaign can sell off that information).

Edit:

Survey shows just 7% of people read the full terms when buying a product or service online, while a fifth say they have suffered from not doing so.

Source: www.guardian.co.uk...

Another edit: The T&C say "share", is can that also mean sell?