Beware of the “sounds too good to be true”

Remember that pair of running shoes you looked at online last week or the Jamaican trip you looked into for the holidays? Did you find it interesting when those shoes popped up in your Facebook feed and new offers for great deals to Jamaica showed up in ads on random websites you later visited? That tactic, known as targeted advertising, has become a common marketing practice, and it is reaching beyond our pocketbooks and into our election results.

Targeted advertising allows organizations to reach a specific group of consumers based on their buying history, personal behaviors or online habits, such as their social media activity, Google searches or web browsing. For example, if I was selling natural dog food, I would gather data on 25–50 year-old homeowners who live in eco-friendly cities, post pictures about their dogs on Facebook and visit other dog-friendly websites.

Imagine using those same techniques to reach potential voters. A campaign manager for an Indiana congressional candidate can use targeted advertising to push her candidate’s message or an opponent’s unpopular opinion on a hot topic to a targeted group of voters in an attempt to sway their votes.

That is exactly what Cambridge Analytica did going into the 2016 U.S. election. Using the personal data of more than 87 million Facebook users, the United States government found that Cambridge Analytica targeted voters in several key swing states including Michigan and Ohio. The company identified these voters based on their internet habits, personal preferences and social media activity, mining their personal data from a third-party Facebook application.

Then using that personal data, which they did not own, Cambridge Analytica peppered the social feeds of that target audience with fake news items, biased advertising and outright lies. All of which was created by their internal teams to push their client’s political agenda.

Even more distressing, Cambridge Analytica was most likely not alone. We know that in 2016, Russia-connected accounts spent more than $100,000 on Facebook ads pushing false information about Hilary Clinton. Not a large amount in terms of dollars, but with the right message, just as lethal.

Today we find ourselves in a new election season, and a report released in February 2020 stated that digital political advertising could top a record-setting $1 billion. The volume of ads this type of money can buy are almost impossible to track. Experts warn that the targeted advertising online is still vulnerable to manipulation by organizations like Cambridge Analytica or foreign governments, such as Russia in 2016.

Given the ramifications of expected spending, the debate on targeted ads has increased the past few years, pushing on the tech giants to help. Last November, Twitter pulled political ads on its platform. This means Donald Trump cannot buy an ad promoting his bid for re-election, but a politically-vested group can run an ad promoting stronger immigration policies.

In January, Google attempted to follow suit by stating it will limit targeted political advertising that goes beyond broad categories. A campaign can no longer target voters based on personal interests.

And then there’s Facebook. While momentarily considering to restrict political ads, Facebook stated that it will continue to allow campaigns to target voters based on their personal interests. Given that in 2016, Facebook made more than $28 billion in revenue with the majority coming from advertising, it makes sense that social media giant would balk at biting the hand that feeds it.

All this said, where does this leave us as voters? Simply put, it leaves us on our own. As voters continue to be targets of political operatives and campaign misinformation, we have to work hard to ensure what we are reading isn’t too good to be true or too bad to be believed. We must own our social media habits by researching the news we read. We must become more vigilant in protecting our personal data by setting our accounts with the strictest privacy settings, watching for suspicious activity and reading those long privacy agreements will help protect our data. Lastly, let’s hold our candidates accountable, seek reputable sources of knowledge and vote.