Jump to content

PSA: Your personal information has probably been leaked


Wahrheit

Recommended Posts

https://gizmodo.com/gop-data-firm-accidentally-leaks-personal-details-of-ne-1796211612

 

 

The data leak contains a wealth of personal information on roughly 61 percent of the US population. Along with home addresses, birthdates, and phone numbers, the records include advanced sentiment analyses used by political groups to predict where individual voters fall on hot-button issues such as gun ownership, stem cell research, and the right to abortion, as well as suspected religious affiliation and ethnicity. The data was amassed from a variety of sources—from the banned subreddit r/fatpeoplehate to American Crossroads, the super PAC co-founded by former White House strategist Karl Rove.

 

This is probably the worst leak of American data of all time, not in terms of the number of people, but the breadth of the data. There's a lot there.

 

The worst part is that you couldn't have taken any precautions yourself, because the data was gathered independently and there's no opt-out option.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://gizmodo.com/gop-data-firm-accidentally-leaks-personal-details-of-ne-1796211612

 

 

This is probably the worst leak of American data of all time, not in terms of the number of people, but the breadth of the data. There's a lot there.

 

The worst part is that you couldn't have taken any precautions yourself, because the data was gathered independently and there's no opt-out option.

This just looks like facebook/google info + polling numbers to be honest

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This just looks like facebook/google info + polling numbers to be honest

Did you read the article?

 

 

Spreadsheets acquired from TargetPoint, which partnered with Deep Root and GOP Data Trust during the 2016 election, include the home addresses, birthdates, and party affiliations of nearly 200 million registered voters in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections, as well as some 2016 voters. TargetPoint’s data seeks to resolve questions about where individual voters stand on dozens of political issues. For example: Is the voter eco-friendly? Do they favor lowering taxes? Do they believe the Democrats should stand up to Trump? Do they agree with Trump’s “America First” economic stance? Pharmaceutical companies do great damage: Agree or Disagree?

 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As jarringly broad as this leak is, I don't see it being a threat to anyone here - in part precisely because of that breadth. If your personal information has been temporarily made publicly available alongside the personal information of 198 million others, then it's unlikely that yours specifically would be singled out unless you're an especially significant person, in which case your privacy's more likely to have been compromised multiple times over anyway. Those entities that took advantage of this leak are likely to just use it for marketing trends or whatever. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As jarringly broad as this leak is, I don't see it being a threat to anyone here - in part precisely because of that breadth. If your personal information has been temporarily made publicly available alongside the personal information of 198 million others, then it's unlikely that yours specifically would be singled out unless you're an especially significant person, in which case your privacy's more likely to have been compromised multiple times over anyway. Those entities that took advantage of this leak are likely to just use it for marketing trends or whatever. 

I still think it's worth knowing about. If you get an uptick in spam, this might be why. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...