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The DNC data breach

blog.ngpvan.com

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Re: The DNC data breach

#11

Post by toomuchtodo »

morninj wrote: post #10
diyorgasms wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right? Bernie just got some endorsements (which he has been sorely lacking), and all of a sudden this company (the CEO of which is a public Clinton supporter) has a problem that affects the Sanders campaign but not the Clinton campaign, on word from the company that there was a bad actor in the Sanders campaign but not the Clinton campaign. Sure it's possible that the Sanders campaign did exploit this and the Clinton…

Having actually used NGP-VAN, I think it's far more likely that this was a bug, not a conspiracy. The VAN is a real clunker in many ways, so it's not surprising that a bug like this would appear; and public exposure of a conspiracy to sabotage Sanders would be so catastrophic to the Clinton campaign that I think it's highly unlikely that NGP-VAN would do it.

I don't think NGP-VAN is involved. I believe the DNC is using this "crisis" (never let one go to waste, am I right?) in order to discredit Sanders' campaign (as the DNC is cozy with the Clintons).

Re: The DNC data breach

#12

Post by diyorgasms »

morninj wrote: post #10
diyorgasms wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right? Bernie just got some endorsements (which he has been sorely lacking), and all of a sudden this company (the CEO of which is a public Clinton supporter) has a problem that affects the Sanders campaign but not the Clinton campaign, on word from the company that there was a bad actor in the Sanders campaign but not the Clinton campaign. Sure it's possible that the Sanders campaign did exploit this and the Clinton…

Having actually used NGP-VAN, I think it's far more likely that this was a bug, not a conspiracy. The VAN is a real clunker in many ways, so it's not surprising that a bug like this would appear; and public exposure of a conspiracy to sabotage Sanders would be so catastrophic to the Clinton campaign that I think it's highly unlikely that NGP-VAN would do it.

Oh having used enough "enterprise" software in my day, I have very few doubts that this was a bug. I only have doubts that Sanders' campaign would have discovered this while the Clinton campaign did not. Both have presumably talented people working for them, it strikes me as unlikely that both sides were not a party to malfeasance. As such, it would not surprise me if the company leadership were covering for the Clinton campaign.

Re: The DNC data breach

#13

Post by vvanders »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #11
morninj wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having actually used NGP-VAN, I think it's far more likely that this was a bug, not a conspiracy. The VAN is a real clunker in many ways, so it's not surprising that a bug like this would appear; and public exposure of a conspiracy to sabotage Sanders would be so catastrophic to the Clinton campaign that I think it's highly unlikely that NGP-VAN would do it.

I don't think NGP-VAN is involved. I believe the DNC is using this "crisis" (never let one go to waste, am I right?) in order to discredit Sanders' campaign (as the DNC is cozy with the Clintons).

Yeah, that seems to be a reasonable conclusion here(esp since Sanders campaign reported a similar breach in other software but we don't see the DNC acting the same).

Re: The DNC data breach

#14

Post by scarmig »

morninj wrote: post #10
diyorgasms wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right? Bernie just got some endorsements (which he has been sorely lacking), and all of a sudden this company (the CEO of which is a public Clinton supporter) has a problem that affects the Sanders campaign but not the Clinton campaign, on word from the company that there was a bad actor in the Sanders campaign but not the Clinton campaign. Sure it's possible that the Sanders campaign did exploit this and the Clinton…

Having actually used NGP-VAN, I think it's far more likely that this was a bug, not a conspiracy. The VAN is a real clunker in many ways, so it's not surprising that a bug like this would appear; and public exposure of a conspiracy to sabotage Sanders would be so catastrophic to the Clinton campaign that I think it's highly unlikely that NGP-VAN would do it.

As someone who has had... shall we say, intimate interactions with NGP-VAN's code base, the idea being floated by some Sanders supporters that this is a DNC conspiracy and not a bug is hilarious.

Re: The DNC data breach

#15

Post by toomuchtodo »

scarmig wrote: post #14
morninj wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having actually used NGP-VAN, I think it's far more likely that this was a bug, not a conspiracy. The VAN is a real clunker in many ways, so it's not surprising that a bug like this would appear; and public exposure of a conspiracy to sabotage Sanders would be so catastrophic to the Clinton campaign that I think it's highly unlikely that NGP-VAN would do it.

As someone who has had... shall we say, intimate interactions with NGP-VAN's code base, the idea being floated by some Sanders supporters that this is a DNC conspiracy and not a bug is hilarious.

So its Sanders' campaign's fault NGP-VAN's code is shit and released information it shouldn't?

EDIT: Why isn't the DNC taking punitive actions against NGP-VAN? Ahh! Of course. Because they're a tight knit "provider" which is essentially the political tech vendor of the DNC.

Re: The DNC data breach

#16

Post by sethbannon »

For those that are not familiar with the space, campaigns typically use voter contact software to record the results of the conversations they have with potential voters on the phones, at the doors, and over the Internet. In this case, the voter contact software that both the Hillary and Sanders campaigns were using, NGP VAN, had a bug which allowed both campaigns to access each other's private, proprietary data (in this case, I believe, modeling data).

The Data Director on the Sanders campaign discovered the error and (he claims) was verifying and documenting the bug, which was then reported to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and NGP VAN. The DNC claims these actions were not in good faith, and as a reaction cut the Sanders campaign off from the system.

This is a BIG deal for a campaign, so close to the first elections. Campaigns rely on that data to inform nearly everything they do, and rely on access to such tools to conduct their voter outreach program. Being cut off from the system is crippling for a campaign, likely why the Sanders campaign so quickly sued to get its access reinstated [1].

[1] - http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/sanders-campaign-threa...

edit: typos

Re: The DNC data breach

#17

Post by toomuchtodo »

sethbannon wrote: post #16

For those that are not familiar with the space, campaigns typically use voter contact software to record the results of the conversations they have with potential voters on the phones, at the doors, and over the Internet. In this case, the voter contact software that both the Hillary and Sanders campaigns were using, NGP VAN, had a bug which allowed both campaigns to access each other's private, proprietary data (in…

Difficulty level in replicating this dataset from secretary of state rolls?

Re: The DNC data breach

#18

Post by jdnier »

sethbannon wrote: post #16

For those that are not familiar with the space, campaigns typically use voter contact software to record the results of the conversations they have with potential voters on the phones, at the doors, and over the Internet. In this case, the voter contact software that both the Hillary and Sanders campaigns were using, NGP VAN, had a bug which allowed both campaigns to access each other's private, proprietary data (in…

Here's an interview the Sanders campaign staffer who was fired gave explaining just what you describe: http://www.msnbc.com/thomas-roberts/watch/fired-sanders-camp...

Re: The DNC data breach

#19

Post by whistlerbrk »

scarmig wrote: post #14
morninj wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having actually used NGP-VAN, I think it's far more likely that this was a bug, not a conspiracy. The VAN is a real clunker in many ways, so it's not surprising that a bug like this would appear; and public exposure of a conspiracy to sabotage Sanders would be so catastrophic to the Clinton campaign that I think it's highly unlikely that NGP-VAN would do it.

As someone who has had... shall we say, intimate interactions with NGP-VAN's code base, the idea being floated by some Sanders supporters that this is a DNC conspiracy and not a bug is hilarious.

I think the allegation is that the _response_ is an overreaction which when taken with other events, namely the lack of debates, has echoes of a conspiracy. I will say it's a loose usage of the word.

Re: The DNC data breach

#20

Post by dragonwriter »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #17
sethbannon wrote: post #16

For those that are not familiar with the space, campaigns typically use voter contact software to record the results of the conversations they have with potential voters on the phones, at the doors, and over the Internet. In this case, the voter contact software that both the Hillary and Sanders campaigns were using, NGP VAN, had a bug which allowed both campaigns to access each other's private, proprietary data (in…

Difficulty level in replicating this dataset from secretary of state rolls?

As I understand it, the data set contains proprietary information from the campaigns using it, so it is impossible to reconstruct it from any public source, or really any source unless the campaign has retained separate copies of all the data (which is probably impractical.)
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