[Question for the lawyers: As a matter of law, do the same privacy restrictions that apply to corporate online information gathering also apply to political organizations? Because this privacy policy looks rather, er, open-ended to me.]
Jeez, I actually gave thirty seconds thought to joining up so I could push HR 676, so I went there. And I know I'm bitter and cynical, but I've always found and find the whole Obama site totally off-putting. Never mind the creepy soft-focus feel to the graphics, it's the words:
The guide is organized into three sections -- Before, During, and After your Event – to help you prepare. You should read all sections so that you know what is expected of you.
You have the power to contribute directly to the Democratic platform, but in order for your thoughts to be incorporated, your event must be registered in our system.
Create a personalized [oh?] event flyer.
This is the form that you will want to have all your attendees use to sign in.
The Platform Meeting is an exercise in civility and debate. At the outset, it’s important that everyone in the group agree to basic principles: mutual respect for the opinions of other meeting attendees and a desire to come together as a group and form consensus around the issues that are most important to the people in the group.
That's a relief! It's going to be just like the primary! If I wear my Hillary T-shirt, will I get booed?
Don’t forget to take pictures and share them with us after the event.
Oh, yeah, like I'm putting pictures of my whole social network into your database, along with their names and addresses. I don't think so.
How could "sharing" be bad? W-e-e-l-l...
Please ensure that all members of your Platform Meeting have signed in and registered so that we know who was in attendance.
Right. At this point, it's not about the platform at all, is it? It's all about the data (see under, Surveillance State, National).
On the next screen, they emphasize that data again:
Capture Information
Enter your sign-in sheets online.If you’d prefer, you can mail sign-in sheets to:
Obama for America Attn: New Media
233 N. Michigan Ave, Suite 1100
Chicago, IL 60601
They want that data so bad, they'll take it via snail mail and key it themselves...
Say, anybody know where the Obama Movement's privacy policy is? Like, what they can do with your data once you've "shared" it with them, and who they can sell it to? I checked the website, haw, and tried to Google it, but failed.
The whole thing gave me the creeps. It makes me feel like signing up with Amway or something. [And here, I have to admit that the first time I went to the platform thingie, the URL took me to a page that said "Join the Obama Movement!" I don't want to join a fucking movement. I have a political party already, and if I want to affect its platform, why should I have to join a movement?]
Seriously, with consolidating all the outside groups under Obama, moving the DNC to Chicago, and the Obama Movement having its own database, its own funding sources, and a permanent institutional presence in the form of the Fellows, it almost looks like at least some faction of the Dems thinks they've damaged their brand irretrievably, and want to move on to the new, new thing. Post-partisan, don't you know. And knowing you, and the addresses and photos all your friends will no doubt be very useful. Especially when they can get their software to work and cross-link your image, and physical address, to everything you've ever done online.....
UPDATE And not to be paranoid and cynical, but warrantless surveillance is all about the data, too. I'd hate to think that Obama is actually for the FISA abomination because he's seen, from his own campaign, what leveraging social networking data can do when integrating information from disparate sources. That would be bad.
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Answer?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=n...
Here's your answer, Lambert:
"According to the Obama campaign's online privacy statement, it reserves the right to ``make personal information available to organizations with similar political viewpoints and objectives, in furtherance of our own political objectives.''"
Ah, not accessible from the main page
How con-v-e-e-e-n-i-e-n-t.
"Similar" to what?
"Objectives" like "hope" and "change"?
Ick. Creeps me out even more. This is good, too:
Surprised
No pledge yet?
data
sure it is all about the data, the big thing in a campaign is identifying your supporters. I am not going to hold an event, but if anyone does it will be one more blow for single payer
Email Passwords
At least one report I've read indicated Obama's site "fightthesmears" collected email passwords from users. Check out this Salon article. Basically, the site appears to collect your email, your email password, and your friends' emails. Now, of course, it promises not to store such information...
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. " - Eleanor Roosevelt
Don't give out your email password, even to unity ponies!
Here's what the Salon article has to say about this:
The thing is, the strategy of the site is inane, as the Salon article points out:
In other words, fight the smears is preaching to the choir, and will never reach the people who might be convinced by the smears.
So the site fails. Unless the real intent of the site is to spoof you into surrendering your password, in which case it may well be succeeding brilliantly. (I say "may be," because I can't find any numbers on how many people have actually signed up.)
NOTE If you think handing your email password to anybody is a good idea, ask yourself whether PayPal emailed you any account information recently. And go on from there....
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
I Was Shocked
that anyone would ever ask for an email password or that anyone would give it. That's why the Salon article stuck with me. Not for the bad political tactics, but because of the weirdness surrounding the email passwords.
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. " - Eleanor Roosevelt
Social networking run amok
What could go wrong?
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Not social networking - concentration of power
Networking involves flows running in different directions. Here, it's unilateral: you give your infos to the central organization but there is no reciprocity... that is, beyond the inherent satisfaction of being "part of the movement", that is, part of the kool kids klique.
All of us here are probably too old to respond to that kind of messaging / branding.
... and we're racists and bitter too, dontcha know?
Go Global!
Loyalty oaths
A friend in CO was asked to sign a pledge to support and campaign for Obama at a Dem event.
Of course, Obama isn't McCain and the tactics ObamaCo are using don't matter.
Didn't the Progressive Blogs
used to be shocked when Bush did that?
Go Global!
Kansas Republicans
Here.
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Never give out your email password
I am truly shocked about that
Has anyone ever been asked for their email password, other than
by someone you've asked to check your email if for some reason you yourself cannot?
I can't believe this! But then I can't belive what Facebook, etc., ask of their users. I am not signed up for Facebook or anything like it.
Amazing.
Facebook does not ask much
It's up to the users to choose how much to disclose.
Go Global!
This isn't an email account created on an Obama server,
but my personal email account, on no system Obama controls?
FUCK NO.
How many types of bad does this have to get until our warnings are listened to? Jeezum crow -- NO system I've ever been on has asked for any password on an account they don't maintain themselves. This. Is. Fucked.
Yes, the password to your very own email account
What could go wrong?
And is the staffer who dreamed this one up the same one that dreamed up the Possum seal?
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Doesn't Require Email Passwords Now
Or doesn't appear to. All it required was an email address (gee, mine may have had a typo) and a zip code, then sent me to a contribution site (which appears to be a major theme on the site itself, saying I could donate to fight the smears of Obama, while funding those of Hillary I guess). I didn't get further so maybe it will ask for me to become more involved by email, which I'll never get.
"Do what you feel in your heart to be right -- for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't. " - Eleanor Roosevelt
Well, no drama
Glad they changed it -- or the request is deeper in.
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi