My very first diary entry--could we have a round of applause?
This is from yesterday's Think Progress:
A story by Minnesota Public Radio reveals a disturbing new way that a political party is secretly grabbing sensitive personal information about voters.
Really? What political party do you suppose would do a sleazy thing like that?
This week the Minnesota Republican Party is distributing a new CD about a proposed state marriage amendment. Along with flashy graphics, the CD asks people their views on controversial issues such as abortion, gun control, illegal immigration, and so on.
The problem - the CD sends your answers back to headquarters, filed by name, address, and political views. No mention of that in the terms of use. No privacy policy at all. The story concludes: "So if you run the CD in your personal computer, by the end of it, the Minnesota GOP will not only know what you think on particular issues, but also who you are."
Links and extended snark on the flip..
Here is a link to the Think Progress story:
Minnesota GOP's Stealth Attack On Privacy.
Today, Bob Collins, the MPR author of the original piece, responds to all the hullaballoo created by the Slashdot reference to the article. (Slashdot is a major source of "news for nerds" such as myself.) His original article from Feb 28, 2006 exposes the blatant invasion of privacy the GOP has implemented on this CD.
Nice job GOP! Now the good news is that for all of the great data the GOP gets from this operation, they also get the backlash from the publicity. So, whatcha think?