Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak • Hacker News Board

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#91

Post by colemannugent » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:39 PM UTC

vinhboy wrote: post #69

> It would ultimately take days, from June 12th to June 14th, for Vickery to download 1.1 TB of publicly accessible files Do security firms have special permission to do this? Because as a private citizen, I am pretty sure I would go to jail if I tried this.

IANAL, but not as far as I'm aware.

You could make the argument that since the information was not protected in any way that you were allowed to download it, but try explaining that to a 65 year old judge who doesn't even comprehend the basic structure of the internet.

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#92

Post by gregshap » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:40 PM UTC

kevindqc wrote: post #76

VonGuard wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that the two parties who voted for this to be the case can have unfettered access to their potential voters, go to their houses, send them things, and know for sure they're only hitting up people in their party, so as not to mobilize the other side. Nothing that would harm the 2-party system ever changes in the US, and nothing ever will.

But why does it need to be public? In the US, you register with the party no? So the party you register with your information, and they can do what you said > go to their houses, send them things, and know for sure they're only hitting up people in their party, so as not to mobilize the other side.

Nope, in the US you register with the state and you can optionally tell the state that you are a member of some party.

You can register to vote and self-identify as 'Dem' 'Republican' etc while getting your driver's license.

Aside from the public voter file update, the Democratic Party doesn't get any special notification if you pick them, and you don't need to apply or get accepted in any way.

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#93

Post by fav_collector » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:41 PM UTC

unityByFreedom wrote: post #51

DannyBee wrote: post #24

Speaking as a guy with a lot of experience with voter data ( I built the first "where do I vote" apps for Google and helped found the voting information project): This is actually almost entirely public data. Yes, including addresses and phone numbers and political affiliation. There are some states that is not public as part of the voter file, but you can still get it other ways publicly. For example: USPS, etc. Som…

> This is actually almost entirely public data Birthday is an included item. That's definitely private as it is often used to confirm identity. "almost public" is meaningless. One data item, like credit card number, or birthday, can make this a dangerous leak.

> Birthday is an included item. That's definitely private as it is often used to confirm identity.

mylife.com publicly posts birthdays so apparently not

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#94

Post by ericcumbee » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:42 PM UTC

AndrewKemendo wrote: post #39

arianvanp wrote: post #23

So you think it is okay to model ethnicity and religion of 200 milion citizens? This is how my country got all their jews killed in WWII [0]. The mere thought of compiling such information here would lead to some hefty jail time these days. I really cannot believe you can even defend such a thing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_registration#Netherlands

I almost made this same comment however it's not comparable because these were private firms compiling the data for a private political committee. This is NOT the government collecting this data. Rest assured the government has much better data on everyone already.

Would you like to put money on that?

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#95

Post by creepydata » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:42 PM UTC

arianvanp wrote: post #23

So you think it is okay to model ethnicity and religion of 200 milion citizens? This is how my country got all their jews killed in WWII [0]. The mere thought of compiling such information here would lead to some hefty jail time these days. I really cannot believe you can even defend such a thing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_registration#Netherlands

Woah. Why don't you calm down and read the comment you are replying to. The comment you were replying to wasn't taking a position on the issue, and certainly not a strong one, merely asking questions.

>The mere thought of compiling such information here would lead to some hefty jail time these days.

No, not in the United States it wouldn't. Not only is it not illegal, it's standard practice by marking companies, data brokers, and others.

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#96

Post by philh » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:42 PM UTC

protomyth wrote: post #31

arianvanp wrote: post #23

So you think it is okay to model ethnicity and religion of 200 milion citizens? This is how my country got all their jews killed in WWII [0]. The mere thought of compiling such information here would lead to some hefty jail time these days. I really cannot believe you can even defend such a thing. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_registration#Netherlands

For a US example look at NAACP v. Alabama (1958). If you are on the side of revealing this information, you are on the same side as some pretty unpleasant folks.

> If you are on the side of revealing this information, you are on the same side as some pretty unpleasant folks.

I try to pick my sides based on what seems right, not based on who else picks that side.

(I do not have a side in this particular fight.)

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#97

Post by maxerickson » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:43 PM UTC

treehau5 wrote: post #79

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #40

If you're a glass half full person at least they care about the do not call list enough to give it its own column.

They take the DNC list and subsequent enforcement very seriously. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/media-resources/do-not-call-... source: work at place with large call center. Avoiding DNC fines is among one of our top priorities. secondary source: S.O. works at place with call center for a large bank. Same thing. Also anecdotally: If you file a complaint with the FTC for an unknown number that keeps calling you back…

Political calls are exempt from the DNC list:

https://www.donotcall.gov/faq/faqbusiness.aspx#who

The parties take it seriously because they don't want to lose a vote by pissing someone off.

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#98

Post by nothis » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:44 PM UTC

Doesn't this kinda make many (flawed but still in use) "security measures" incredibly vulnerable to social engineering? That's all the birth dates and phone numbers. That's crazy!

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#99

Post by nostrademons » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:44 PM UTC

unityByFreedom wrote: post #51

DannyBee wrote: post #24

Speaking as a guy with a lot of experience with voter data ( I built the first "where do I vote" apps for Google and helped found the voting information project): This is actually almost entirely public data. Yes, including addresses and phone numbers and political affiliation. There are some states that is not public as part of the voter file, but you can still get it other ways publicly. For example: USPS, etc. Som…

> This is actually almost entirely public data Birthday is an included item. That's definitely private as it is often used to confirm identity. "almost public" is meaningless. One data item, like credit card number, or birthday, can make this a dangerous leak.

Birthday is almost certainly public. You can get it easily from the DMV or from any of several dozen commercial providers that resell government data:

https://www.dmv.org/public-records/

That it's used to confirm identity shows how weak identity-theft protections are at most institutions, not what's public information. (For that matter, mother's maiden name is basically public information as well: you can get it from genealogical records.)

Re: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

#100

Post by ericcumbee » Mon, Jun 19, 2017, 4:44 PM UTC

BoiledCabbage wrote: post #49

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That does not even nearly fit on one line, so I broke it up. Yeah, it looks pretty bad. Here's hoping it's only sparsely filled out. State Juriscode Jurisname CountyFIPS MCD CNTY Town Ward Precinct Ballotbox PrecinctName NamePrefix FirstName MiddleName LastName NameSuffix Sex BirthYear BirthMonth BirthDay OfficialParty StateCalcParty RNCCalcParty StateVoterID JurisdictionVoterID LastActiveDate RegistrationDate VoterS…

Plus the supposedly "startlingly accurate" preference and views modeling that is linked to all personal details and publically accessible. While someone could always deny it being correct it again raises questions about responsibility in data collection. > RNC_RegID, State, 2012ObamaVoter_DRA_12_16, 2012RomneyVoter_DRA_12_16, 2016ClintonVoter_DRA_12_16, 2016TrumpVoter_DRA_12_16, AmericaFirstForeignPolicy_agree_DRA_12…

I can not vouch for the accuracy of those. but as a power user of GOPDataCenter (The portal they provide to campaigns and GOP County chairs) the Modeled Ethnicity is pretty terrible.