T&T data mining project allegedly connected to Brexit, Donald Trump

[Duane 3NE 2NR]

A Guardian exposé has pinpointed Trinidad and Tobago as the site of a data mining test project which may have had a role in critical global political developments such as Brexit and US President Donald Trump's rise to power.



The report, compiled by journalist Carole Cadwalladr, refers to a data analytics firm called SCL Elections which allegedly performed a ‘micro-targeting programme’ which gathered data in Trinidad and Tobago in 2013.

The company, which was bought by billionaire Robert Mercer and renamed Cambridge Analytica in 2014, is said to have played a role in political campaigns which led to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union (Brexit) and the political campaign which led to Trump's victory at the polls.

Read more at
http://www.looptt.com/content/data-mini ... nald-trump

[pugboy]

wonder if this was one of ernie ross jobs

when typing a search in google or fb etc
the text completion it does is frightening in the rabbit hole they can purposely lead you down

[sMASH]

small ting, it was just to see if the software could stand up to dotish politicians, and backward voters.

[bluefete]

LOL. Now you cannot get into the link at loop-tt.

[Deadric]

Where'd that hyphen come from? The article is up here:

http://www.looptt.com/content/data-mini ... nald-trump

[meccalli]

I had a south african lecturer in one of my electives, intercultural communications tell the class last year that Trinidad was being used to test US surveillance programs.
http://www.triple-c.at/index.php/triple ... le/533/552

[bluefete]

Where'd that hyphen come from? The article is up here:

http://www.looptt.com/content/data-mini ... nald-trump

Thank you. And now I can out this into the public domain:

1. Do you remember the extra hour that was granted for elections in Trinidad only in 2015?

2. Do you remember the island wide blackout on the day before Good Friday in 2013?

[bluefete]

I had a south african lecturer in one of my electives, intercultural communications tell the class last year that Trinidad was being used to test US surveillance programs.
http://www.triple-c.at/index.php/triple ... le/533/552

That is one very well researched article.

[Daran]

Very the link is somewhat loose, Cambridge Analytica is the real culprit here. Local firm was used to collect data, but the real intelligence was done by CA.

Guardian has a lovely expose on this:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... -democracy

[Monk BANzai]

wonder if this was one of ernie ross jobs

when typing a search in google or fb etc
the text completion it does is frightening in the rabbit hole they can purposely lead you down

Is Ernie Ross still relevant in Political Advertising and Metrics? He got vehemently sidelined in the run-up to the local 2015 Election...tho he played.a beautiful stroke to silly mid off and formed ReThink before he took the company out of "alignment Politics".

[pugboy]

Nah but he was practically running the country at one time lol

[mars]

According to documents seen by Bloomberg, SCL says it helped a candidate in Trinidad by spraying graffiti slogans that appeared to be the work of young Trinidadians. “The client was then able to ‘adopt’ related policies and claim credit for listening to a ‘united youth,’ ”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-23/trump-data-gurus-leave-long-trail-of-subterfuge-dubious-dealing

[mars]

I don't get the "allegedly" in the thread title...

[mars]

Finding “persuadable” voters is key for any campaign and with its treasure trove of data, Cambridge Analytica could target people high in neuroticism, for example, with images of immigrants “swamping” the country. The key is finding emotional triggers for each individual voter.

Cambridge Analytica worked on campaigns in several key states for a Republican political action committee. Its key objective, according to a memo the Observer has seen, was “voter disengagement” and “to persuade Democrat voters to stay at home”: a profoundly disquieting tactic.

Looks like their tactics paid off in the US, if not in Trinidad:
http://tinyurl.com/mjj4z49

[Redman]

Local companies doing this for a while now.

To engage the media polls online and on TV to sway public opinion.

Ghost writing letters to newspaper with a cable to get published, and all the cell phone text and SM messaging.

This was pre 2010 election with the co was engaged to move the ministry towards a specific
Policy position.

[desifemlove]

So if this firm was sold, and before 2016, how is this newsworthy?

[redmanjp]

http://www.looptt.com/content/ag-govt-seeking-evidence-cambridge-analytica-whistleblower

AG: Gov’t seeking evidence from Cambridge Analytica whistleblower
LOOP NEWS CREATED : 26 JULY 2019

Trinidad and Tobago has been featured in the Netflix documentary “The Great Hack”, which takes an in-depth look into data research company, Cambridge Analytica.

The company has been accused of harvesting information from millions of Facebook users.

According to an article by the Guardian, perhaps the most chilling part of the documentary shows that a Cambridge Analytica operative worked on a campaign in Trinidad and Tobago in 2013, inciting a certain strand of the population not to vote.

“Perhaps the most chilling part of the film shows that a Cambridge Analytica operative worked on a campaign with the ironic slogan “Do So!” The point of course was not to “do so” or do anything at all, not to vote, in fact: an insidious argument for apathy. Anyone who says voting is a waste of time needs to watch this film, if only for this segment,” it stated.

Questioned by reporters about the new documentary at the weekly post cabinet media briefing on Thursday, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi revealed that Government is seeking evidence from Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Christopher Wylie.

Al Rawi revealed that Trinidad and Tobago, through its attorneys of law, has been in contact with Wylie on several occasions and has been in active discussions on the matter.

The Attorney General also added that there is a Parliament team headed by Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, sitting to deal with the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

“We have had discussions via appropriate channels to bring home the evidence on Cambridge Analytica. This is no small measure. It is something which has to be done very carefully. Mr Wylie’s attorneys in writing to ours have indicated his willingness to assist Trinidad and Tobago in identifying in open form the culprits’ behind Cambridge Analytica, who are culprits, who sat in the last government structure,” AG Al Rawi stated.

Trinidad and Tobago, under the People’s Partnership government, is alleged to have engaged the services of controversial company: allegations which have been dismissed by then Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissesssar.

[De Dragon]

Children Abandoner Arse-Wari should tell us after all that money and time spent, whether selling people's data is a crime here in T&T. He should also tell us WTF Fake Rasta in charge of the team.

[toyolink]

Our juvenile, indiscipline and adhoc existence in the global cyber environment makes us sitting ducks for any kind of nonsense.
This applies to both our domestic and international connectivities.
Thankfully our low tech approach to managing electricity distribution, water distribution, traffic control and public administration processes has tended to mitigate our exposures.
The financial sector better watch-out.

[Redman]

Regarding the Cambridge Analytica version of the 2010 election campaign.
I thought the Do So thing was about the Property Tax-The Nix guy said it was about influencing young people NOT to vote.

Seems he is taking credit for something that he had nothing to do with-I thought the Villifana fellow did the 'x' thing spontaneously

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Villafana

[The_Honourable]

The fake scandal of Cambridge Analytica

Call me old fashioned, but I think a good political scandal needs three things; bribery, corruption and at least one famous porn star threatening to write a tell-all book. That’s why the current uproar over the data firm Cambridge Analytica (CA) and their links to the previous UNC/PP government have left me cold; it’s not a scandal.

According to reports the UNC/PP allegedly hired an affiliate of this firm, a Canadian company called AggregateIQ, to collect data, identify information about key demographic groups and then craft appealing communication messages to these groups. Or as they call it in the marketing world; marketing.

For readers who were living on Mars for the past year or just trapped on the Water Taxi, Cambridge Analytica is a British data and political consulting firm partly owned by American Hedge Fund manager Robert Mercer. CA rose to worldwide fame or rather infamy after its CEO Alexander Nix claimed responsibility for Donald Trump's Presidential victory as well as the successful ‘Leave’ vote on the EU referendum in the UK. These claims have been widely dismissed by political scientists, who question the veracity of CA’s methods.

But some politicians and journalists on either side of the pond, still smarting from Trump’s victory and the success of the ‘Leave campaign’ have chosen to gobble up Nix’s outlandish boasts as fact; painting him as a type of Bond Villain running CA from his base in a hollowed-out volcano.

The crux of this non-scandal started last year when according to a report in the Guardian UK, in 2013 Ministers in the then UNC/PP government hired Canadian data firm Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL) to develop Mirco-targeting platform; commonplace in digital marketing and advertising. SCL, which brought in AggregateIQ to help, was later acquired by CA.

This is hardly high espionage. And considering that the UNC/PP lost ALL of the bye-elections it contested while in office, including their stronghold of Chaguanas West, not to mention the general election; where their master plan was to accuse Dr. Rowley of obeah, you really have to wonder if the UNC/PP was better off just burning incense.

More controversially however CA “whistleblowers” also claim to have presented a plan called ‘Minority Report’ to the then Minister of National Security. This involved capturing “citizen’s browsing history en masse, phone conversations...to construct a national police database …for each citizen on their propensity to commit a crime”. That sounds sinisterly impressive; but also like a ton of Bulls*&%.

There is no evidence that such a database was ever built or that such algorithms are even possible. And “psychographic modeling” is as scientific as astrology.

Furthermore, as Express journalist Asha Javeed uncovered in her report last week, SCL struggled to obtain basic data in T&T. Ms. Javeed quotes one SCL email saying “The key difficulty has stemmed not from the legality of acquiring the requisite data but rather capacity within the T&T Central Statistical Office ..and a lack of political will among relevant COP-affiliated ministers to make the data available”.

If SCL/CA is really akin to a Bond villain then it’s the first Bond villain to complain that red tape and bureaucracy held back their plans for world domination.

There are two main aspects of the SCL/CA controversy that most local commentators have missed. Firstly, SCL/CA obtained its data legitimately.

Remember when you did that Facebook quiz about what kind of Mango you are? Well, you also consented for your profile information to be used by third parties; surprise!

Just like when you signed up for Bmobile you consented to the Prime Minister texting you reminders to wear a condom.

Secondly, the reason CA is in trouble in the UK is that election watchdogs are accusing them of flouting campaign finance rules during their ‘leave campaign’ EU referendum vote. A charge which has also been leveled at opposition ‘remain campaigners’.

Opponents of Brexit (and Trump) have tried to muddy the waters painting CA as having unfairly “manipulated” elections results and of being a threat to democracy. This just isn’t true. Especially as no one expressed these fears when Facebook openly collaborated with a certain Barack Obama in 2008.

That’s why it’s puzzling that Attorney General Faris Al Rawi addressed the issue in Parliament this week and promised an investigation; especially as his party used data firm, MORI. Perhaps when he’s done investigating this fake scandal he can address the very real proposed Cybercrime legislation; which aims to clamp down on data provided by whistleblowers.

Source: https://www.trinidadexpress.com/opinion ... 73b00.html