Data and Democracy: The Impact of Data Analytics on our Decision making
An Introduction
We know that various corporations and businesses collect our personal data. However do we really grasp the true scale of the consequences?
Firms like Cambridge Analytica & Deep Root Analytics may have come up before. Their operations utilising Facebook user data resembling something akin to a military-style large scale cyber program. Its incredibly fascinating so here are the basics:
Psychographics | sī-kə-ˈgra-fiks
'Market research or statistics classifying population groups according to psychological variables (such as attitudes, values, or fears)
also : variables or trends identified through such research'.
Demographics are informational. Psychographics are behavioural – a means to segment a market by personality.
On the surface there doesn't seem to be anything wrong. After-all, these techniques are predominantly implemented to benefit a platforms users, offering relevant products and guiding service providers to tailor their user experience for consumers right?
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Real World Use
There are a few known instances we can examine in which these methods have been used to great effect. This overview is focused purely on the campaigns:
US Presidential Campaign 2016
The majority of the Trump campaign budget ($90m) went to ads. On average they ran 40,000 - 50,000 variants of its ads a day, peaking at 175,000 variations.
CA developed these variations on different political themes such as gun rights, immigration & the economy. Tailoring each to different personality profiles.
Project Alamo - The database of voter information used for targeting. 14.4 million 'persuadable voters' identified.
Deep Root Analytics - Exposed personal information of 198 million citizens following its involvement in the campaign.
Philippines Marcos Campaign 2021
A more recent example, Bongbong Marcos Junior assuming office of President in June 2022. Son of the dictator who amassed ~$10 billion illegally according to the World Bank and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Under Bongbong Marcos Sr, 70,000 “enemies of the state” were arrested, 34,000 were tortured, and over 3,000 killed. This makes the recent election result just as unlikely and intriguing as the Brexit & Trump decisions.
From the available details we have so far, coordinated disinformation campaigns were run on social media platforms, especially TikTok. It is highly likely Psychographics were at play.
'Compared to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, TikTok’s algorithm can catapult a user to stardom with just one post in a couple of days' - Jonathan Corpus Ong, disinformation researcher at Harvard University.
Social media's tendency to keep content short and succinct can have the effect of 'flattening' history. Thus making myths and falsehoods easier to take hold amongst the targeted group.
As a follow up to this it may be worth a second sqribbles piece presenting Analytica's involvement in the Kenya elections & to take a closer look at AggregateIQ, the Canadian analytics firm involved with the Brexit campaign
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The Trend
There is a trend at play here. The data sets and analytic capabilities available to a few select very powerful people are provably being used to offensively direct public opinion on certain topics through the use of advanced analytics, targeted ads and online posts.
A sector which has until recently matched products and services to consumers is now able to intentionally and subtley manipulate social media platforms into a persistent, dynamic and focused barrage of what resembles propaganda or disinformation.
Quick note pertaining to the 'persuadable voters' mentioned earlier. Imagine you could identify a segment of voters with a propensity for neuroticism or extroversion & low in tolerance or openness (if such a thing can be measured). You will have digitally acquired a committed & single minded follower base.
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Awareness and Mitigation
It seems Behavioural analytics and Psychographic profiling are here to stay. I personally do not believe there is complete justification in preventing companies performing these types of analytics on data they have legally acquired. The burden of responsibility falls on us and the services we choose to use.
The merits of the Zcash community & the builders and educators involved with privacy-preserving technology becomes clear. Tools to prevent financial, medical and other sensitive data falling into the wrong hands are absolutely paramount to ensuring a free and fair society.
Ultimately, we are at times unknowingly engaging with media that has been selected for its subversive properties by machines running millions upon millions of computations to find the most effective messaging. The industrialisation of the perfect sales pitch. Our single best recourse is to remain cognisant and vigilant of these new threats, be considerably cautious of social media in particular & actually let people know that this is what is possible & happening today.