Political Profiling

[worsy]

I'm interested in understanding how parties might profile someone. Yesterday I received some personally addressed marketing material from the Lib Dems and wondered why I, and not my wife, nor my eldest might have been targeted.

I live in a constituency where a blue rosette on a pig would win, in a blue county council and a blue town council, on a road where only the green party seem bothered to canvas. Even if I were to be swayed by Ms Swinson's message, it would make not one jot of difference.

So is it random, or am i on a list somewhere ?

[Zirconia]

I used to get a postal vote and seemed to get a load of addressed to me rather than the occupier stuff. I assume they have access to the voting register and know how had the postal vote. The mrs never had any directed mail.

[worsy]

Zirconia said:

I used to get a postal vote and seemed to get a load of addressed to me rather than the occupier stuff. I assume they have access to the voting register and know how had the postal vote. The mrs never had any directed mail.

No postal vote and not on the edited register either.

[Vanden Saab]

Everybody is on a list somewhere. Those who think they are clever and avoid almost all forms of social media will be on the gullible list along with those who use VPNs, proxies or any other type of ad blockers. Thinking you can avoid internet advertising probably sets you up as a target more than anything else. In your case it is probably just a random list of names and addresses picked out by a computer for a certain area. Personally I think it is fun searching for random things to see what connections the algorithms make with regard to the adverts I get on here and elsewhere.

[Johnnytheboy]

Vanden Saab said:

Everybody is on a list somewhere. Those who think they are clever and avoid almost all forms of social media will be on the gullible list along with those who use VPNs, proxies or any other type of ad blockers. Thinking you can avoid internet advertising probably sets you up as a target more than anything else. In your case it is probably just a random list of names and addresses picked out by a computer for a certain area. Personally I think it is fun searching for random things to see what connections the algorithms make with regard to the adverts I get on here and elsewhere.

I think we are still some way off particularly clever targeting yet though.

Browsing based ads are great at trying to sell you what you've just bought.



My favourite ad on Facebook was one for a dating site called "Fit Singles". So me in a 25 year relationship, who has never done any exercise for its own sake in his life... So I clicked on that "why am I seeing this ad" link for the first time and it said something like:

"You appear to be a male between 18 and 60 that lives in the UK."

Well, that narrows it right down then.

[worsy]

[Zirconia]

I suppose you can ask them then?

I am waiting to see if I get any more this next election now I am back to X in the poll booth.

[rxe]

Vanden Saab said:

Everybody is on a list somewhere. Those who think they are clever and avoid almost all forms of social media will be on the gullible list along with those who use VPNs, proxies or any other type of ad blockers. Thinking you can avoid internet advertising probably sets you up as a target more than anything else. In your case it is probably just a random list of names and addresses picked out by a computer for a certain area. Personally I think it is fun searching for random things to see what connections the algorithms make with regard to the adverts I get on here and elsewhere.

I don’t think the data science is nearly as good as they claim it to be. I see loads of “toilet seat” examples, when you buy something and then get bombarded with adverts for the same thing for the next month by the very company that sold it to you. You don’t get the same bombardment from the companies that you didn’t buy from (thus leading me to the conclusion that only linkage they have is your actual purchasing history).

If I connect a VPN to Moscow, the few adverts I do see are in Russian. Hang on, don’t they know it is my machine with me using it? Clearly not, they just think “network connection from Russia = Russian”.

When I start seeing advertising that is in anyway linked to my interests, then I will be more concerned. Right now I think think their ability to profile is limited to “liked some alt-right post of Facebook, must be a Nazi”.

[Condi]

rxe said:

Vanden Saab said:

Everybody is on a list somewhere. Those who think they are clever and avoid almost all forms of social media will be on the gullible list along with those who use VPNs, proxies or any other type of ad blockers. Thinking you can avoid internet advertising probably sets you up as a target more than anything else. In your case it is probably just a random list of names and addresses picked out by a computer for a certain area. Personally I think it is fun searching for random things to see what connections the algorithms make with regard to the adverts I get on here and elsewhere.

I don’t think the data science is nearly as good as they claim it to be. I see loads of “toilet seat” examples, when you buy something and then get bombarded with adverts for the same thing for the next month by the very company that sold it to you. You don’t get the same bombardment from the companies that you didn’t buy from (thus leading me to the conclusion that only linkage they have is your actual purchasing history).

If I connect a VPN to Moscow, the few adverts I do see are in Russian. Hang on, don’t they know it is my machine with me using it? Clearly not, they just think “network connection from Russia = Russian”.

When I start seeing advertising that is in anyway linked to my interests, then I will be more concerned. Right now I think think their ability to profile is limited to “liked some alt-right post of Facebook, must be a Nazi”.

You're right. In some ways its very clever, in some ways its not that clever at all. Even the Cambridge Analytica 'scandal' was mainly/totally publicly accessible data; stuff people had put online themselves. What CA were good at was amalgamating it all to build up a comprehensive picture. Every Facebook 'like' and every Instagram location is used to build up a picture of your personality, but if someone uses Adblocker, Ghostery, VPNs, avoids Facebook, avoids other forms of social media then the algorithms have very very little to work with.

The biggest white elephant about the whole CA/privacy debate was that they were using information we put online. We volunteered that information over months and years. The bug in the system was us. But it is easier to blame the big companies for pulling together the data, and then blame other big companies when their targeted advertising worked incredibly well. As humans we don't like to see our own foibles.

[worsy]

OP here - Bit off topic guys, the messaging i received was snail mail.

[Johnnytheboy]

Are you a postal voter?

Or in some way on an official document for the address that your wife isn't?

[worsy]

Johnnytheboy said:

Are you a postal voter?

Or in some way on an official document for the address that your wife isn't?

Not postal.

Am company director but wife is coy secretary anyhow.

voted Remain, Wife voted Leave hence my spidey sense tingling.

[rxe]

worsy said:

OP here - Bit off topic guys, the messaging i received was snail mail.

Not sure it is OT - there is no reason why data entered online can’t spill over into a mail shot. For example, if you use Google checkout, they know your address, and if they can profile you in some other way, you might end up in the “worth a Lib Dem mailshot” bucket.

Or it could be something as simple as you stuck your name on something like “save the local A&E” petition and they’re driving it from that.

[worsy]

rxe said:

worsy said:

OP here - Bit off topic guys, the messaging i received was snail mail.

Not sure it is OT - there is no reason why data entered online can’t spill over into a mail shot. For example, if you use Google checkout, they know your address, and if they can profile you in some other way, you might end up in the “worth a Lib Dem mailshot” bucket.

Or it could be something as simple as you stuck your name on something like “save the local A&E” petition and they’re driving it from that.

Hmm I get where you are coming from, however I tend to be apolitical online.

[JuanCarlosFandango]

Looking at your car history, in particular the Fiat, 3 BL and a Citroen, there's clearly a left wing impulse there. However the German stuff suggests probably not Labour. It doesn't scream Lib Dem but if you're a Tory Remainer it's worth a leaflet in the current climate.

[worsy]

JuanCarlosFandango said:

Looking at your car history, in particular the Fiat, 3 BL and a Citroen, there's clearly a left wing impulse there. However the German stuff suggests probably not Labour. It doesn't scream Lib Dem but if you're a Tory Remainer it's worth a leaflet in the current climate.

Genuine LOL

[Zirconia]

Rats. Postal vote defo not the reason. Just had one in my name. Probably a throw back to the register though and who has bought access.

[poo at Paul's]

worsy said:

I'm interested in understanding how parties might profile someone. Yesterday I received some personally addressed marketing material from the Lib Dems and wondered why I, and not my wife, nor my eldest might have been targeted.

I live in a constituency where a blue rosette on a pig would win, in a blue county council and a blue town council, on a road where only the green party seem bothered to canvas. Even if I were to be swayed by Ms Swinson's message, it would make not one jot of difference.

So is it random, or am i on a list somewhere ?

Have you got a history of changing your mind / allegiance to whatever is the latest most popular thing? Do you support Man City, but were a die hard Arsenal man in the late 90's, then Man U, then back to Arsenal in 2003?
Perhaps you are heavy drinker / womaniser?

They have to have something on you to target you, with membership subscriptions as they are, they cant afford stamps willy nilly…?

[ChevyChase77]

worsy said:

I'm interested in understanding how parties might profile someone. Yesterday I received some personally addressed marketing material from the Lib Dems and wondered why I, and not my wife, nor my eldest might have been targeted.

I live in a constituency where a blue rosette on a pig would win, in a blue county council and a blue town council, on a road where only the green party seem bothered to canvas. Even if I were to be swayed by Ms Swinson's message, it would make not one jot of difference.

So is it random, or am i on a list somewhere ?

Is your name first alphabetically in your household? Mine is, so I always get things like this addressed to me.

[Johnnytheboy]

It's sometime interesting to tell where this info came from. My father uses one of his middle names as his first name and has done since childhood.

The only thing in which he is known by his "real" first name is his stocks and shares.

So if he ever gets unsolicited mail/calls in that name it's a dead cert they have gone from registers of share ownership.