Creepy!! New Obama App Rats Out Neighbors' Political Affiliation

I guess we should have seen this coming a mile away. Time to ramp up my perimeter security

Big Brother enters the election fray in yet another way.

The Internet is abuzz with news of a new Obama campaign smart phone app that identifies all the Democrats in your neighborhood.

Released last week, the app works through Google maps. Upon entering an address, the app reveals the registered Democrats nearby, names them, and notes their sex and age. Consequently, it will also inform you of which households aren't registered Democrats by process of elimination and by seeing those houses not identified as Democrats!

For each Democrat ID a map "flagpin" appears along with information about the voter that lives there. For instance, you might get info about Lori C., age 58, Female, Democrat. Her info appears on your screen as "Lori C. 58 F Democrat."

www.breitbart.com...

I wonder how this will be used??

Side note... Obama may pull another executive order to regulate the Internet
thehill.com...
That's what happens when the Senate rejects your cybersecurity bill....

reply to post by jibeho


"Comrades, either you are with us, are against us!"

Great. Just great.

It's no one's business what political party anyone else is other than the candidates.
This goes to show you that 'once a community organizer, always one', I guess.

./sigh

Ohh! Creepy! The Obama campaign has access to public information! It's the end of the world!

From your source:

This is all public information and is the sort of targeted voter info that all campaigns use in some way or another, whether for mailed ads or door-to-door visits.

reply to post by jibeho


Who knows what you mean by starting a thread with the title: "Creepy"? So what if someone is a Dem or Repub? Same party, different figureheads. You can find out someone's party affiliation by asking them.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Yes, but don't you think it is a bit creepy that now all your neighbors can find this out at the touch of a button? I doubt the general public is looking this info up currently on their neighbors.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


you are in love with Obombya it's ok.....admit it!!! I bet you think war is bad unless obombya is calling the shots..

Yeah it is creepy it is no one's business what party a person belongs to the kicker here when it is combined with the census since it was moved to the white house and just in time for the election.

Or going neghibor hood to neighbor hood and over saturating Democratic opponents and steal signs and whatnot.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic
Ohh! Creepy! The Obama campaign has access to public information! It's the end of the world!

From your source:

This is all public information and is the sort of targeted voter info that all campaigns use in some way or another, whether for mailed ads or door-to-door visits.

Why are you always arguing for the Democratic Party seemingly without thought?

Sure, these are public records.. Do you really think they should be made so accessible to every crazy fool out there?

It's interesting how you cherry pick.. Your quote fails to follow through with the rest of the relevant information:

In the past campaigns, had to go to a County Clerk's office or a Secretary of State's office to get this voter information and usually this information was doled out to campaign workers only and was not available in such a public manner.

So again, do you really think every loony toon out there should have information on how their neighbor's vote at the click of a button?

Who really cares what your neighbours think about your political affiliation or anything for that matter.

Yes this could be used for very nasty tactics in the future if unregulated, but it's also avoidable.

A fascist government would love this to weed out their opposition, but we aren't at that point yet.

Want to rule a country under a fascist dictatorship?

Aw, c'mon; that ain't nothin'.

The Romney app tracks your location like any good Big Brother should.

Romney 2012 Smartphone App Tracks Users' GPS Location

If you can’t wait to know whom Mitt Romney will choose as a running mate, you'd better run out and buy a smart phone.

On July 31, the Romney 2012 campaign announced the release of an iPhone and Android application that will inform users of the big news as soon as the decision is made.

In the case of “Mitt’s VP” app, there are a few details about the app that should concern those of us who are wary of the expanding surveillance state and the ability of those in government (or in this case, those who want to be in government) to track the movements (real and virtual) of cellphone users. Specifically, the permissions embedded within the Android version include the following seemingly unnecessary inclusions:

FINE (GPS) LOCATION
Access fine location sources such as the Global Positioning System on the tablet, where available. Malicious apps may use this to determine where you are, and may consume additional battery power. Access fine location sources such as the Global Positioning System on the phone, where available. Malicious apps may use this to determine where you are, and may consume additional battery power.

COARSE (NETWORK-BASED) LOCATION
Access coarse location sources such as the cellular network database to determine an approximate tablet location, where available. Malicious apps may use this to determine approximately where you are. Access coarse location sources such as the cellular network database to determine an approximate phone location, where available. Malicious apps may use this to determine approximately where you are.

NETWORK COMMUNICATION
FULL INTERNET ACCESS
Allows the app to create network sockets.

STORAGE
MODIFY/DELETE USB STORAGE CONTENTS MODIFY/DELETE SD CARD CONTENTS
Allows the app to write to the USB storage. Allows the app to write to the SD card.

The New American


Comparitavely speaking, the Romney app out-creeps the Obama app by a mile.

reply to post by KibbleChild


you are in love with Obombya it's ok.....admit it!!! I bet you think war is bad unless obombya is calling the shots..


Or........

BH is just pointing out that both sides utilize the information - but the truth is, you don't care about that, you'd rather just point fingers.....admit it!!!

Originally posted by beezzer
Want to rule a country under a fascist dictatorship?

hahaha, that sort of made my day. this is why i chose independent at the age of 18.

Originally posted by jibeho
I guess we should have seen this coming a mile away. Time to ramp up my perimeter security

Big Brother enters the election fray in yet another way.

The Internet is abuzz with news of a new Obama campaign smart phone app that identifies all the Democrats in your neighborhood.

Released last week, the app works through Google maps. Upon entering an address, the app reveals the registered Democrats nearby, names them, and notes their sex and age. Consequently, it will also inform you of which households aren't registered Democrats by process of elimination and by seeing those houses not identified as Democrats!

For each Democrat ID a map "flagpin" appears along with information about the voter that lives there. For instance, you might get info about Lori C., age 58, Female, Democrat. Her info appears on your screen as "Lori C. 58 F Democrat."

www.breitbart.com...

I wonder how this will be used??

Side note... Obama may pull another executive order to regulate the Internet
thehill.com...
That's what happens when the Senate rejects your cybersecurity bill....

Well it is public information.. you can request this from your local clerk of courts if you want it ..

Originally posted by neo96
Yeah it is creepy it is no one's business what party a person belongs

My neighbors don't need an app to know my political leanings. All it takes is a few seconds to scan the few bumper stickers I have across the back of the truck parked in the driveway to be assured that I will not be voting for Obama.

Originally posted by TinkerHaus
Sure, these are public records.. Do you really think they should be made so accessible to every crazy fool out there?

That's what 'public' information means...

In the past campaigns, had to go to a County Clerk's office or a Secretary of State's office to get this voter information and usually this information was doled out to campaign workers only and was not available in such a public manner.

So again, do you really think every loony toon out there should have information on how their neighbor's vote at the click of a button?

I tried this app out, you have to sign up for and agree to some usage agreements which means you're basically signing up to be a campaign worker. You deliberately make yourself accessible to the campaign by using this app. Instead of going to local party headquarters you can sit on the toilet and say, "Hey, I wanna help the campaign out but I'm too lazy to go downtown." Pretty amazing what technology can do.

You should also remember that it only displays who's registered as a democrat. It doesn't show republicans, independents or people who aren't registered at all.

Conservatives are always arguing about how much liberals want to centralize everything...but in this case, they're decentralizing their campaigns.

Originally posted by TinkerHaus
So again, do you really think every loony toon out there should have information on how their neighbor's vote at the click of a button?

edit on 6-8-2012 by TinkerHaus because: (no reason given)

I think his point is just that it's public information.. and in many county clerk websites you can already get this information via the website .. or on your mobile web browser.. so in essence, any loony could already find out all of the registered voters party affiliations on his street.. depends on how easy your county makes it for you..

I'm not even entirely sure this app is doing what is suggested.. when I downloaded it just to toy with it, you have to submit your address to "join supporters" .. I don't think it's truly showing you registered voters, it's showing you other people who've signed on with the app and joined as a supporter .. by entering their address

I could be wrong.. but I don't have enough time to toy with it at the moment

Some people seem to fail to read the source material..

This is all public information and is the sort of targeted voter info that all campaigns use in some way or another, whether for mailed ads or door-to-door visits. In the past campaigns, had to go to a County Clerk's office or a Secretary of State's office to get this voter information and usually this information was doled out to campaign workers only and was not available in such a public manner.

Yes, it's PUBLIC information. Meaning you could have gone to the County Clerk's office of a Secretary of State's office to get voter information. It wasn't like you could just get on the internet and find out who's a registered Democrat on your block..

links234 - you obviously failed to understand the point...Then you make a statement as if I were the one not paying attention.. C'mon.

Miniatus - Please read the supporting material in the OP. This wasn't "public" insofar as you could access it on a public/free/readily available source. You would actually have had to seek out the information. NOW it's available via a mobile app... Not before. That's what the ENTIRE gripe is about.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


Yes, but it would typically take some effort to compile the data and usually that implies a vested interest in the information - a candidate or party using it strictly for campaign purposes.

Now it's available, at a click of a button, to any yahoo who, BTW, can also get a gun fairly quickly too.

Given the polarized and combative state of politics in the U.S., I don't see the app as helpful at all. In fact, I see it as mildly invasive or slightly threatening. Especially as I'm probably the only moderate liberal in my mostly ultra-conservative, slightly rural, gun-toting neighborhood. LoL!