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Canadian Minister Mined Data To Target Email To Gay Voters

Posted by timothy on from the state-is-not-your-friend dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Has Immigration Minister Jason Kenney been emailing you? Maybe it's because you're gay. The minister sent out an email on Sept 24 lauding the government's efforts to protect and promote queer rights abroad. It highlights the 'emphasis . . . on gay and lesbian refugee protection, which is without precedent in Canada's immigration history.' The Ottawa Citizen's Glen McGregor broke the story, complete with reaction over the 'creepy' letter. For many who received an email from Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney about gay refugees on Friday, the message raised one important question: How did he know I'm gay? The Conservatives have targeted written messages at minority communities in the past, most notably using direct mail lists to send out greetings to Jewish voters on religious holidays. Some recipients were alarmed by the prospect of the government assembling lists based on ethnicity or religious beliefs. Surely creating such a list will become easier when you are forced to use your real identities on social sites."

17 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. internet by masternerdguy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    tracking your browsing might clue them in I suppose.

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    To offset political mods, replace Flamebait with Insightful.
    1. Re:internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      http://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/critics-accuse-kenney-of-pinkwashing-in-targeted-emails-1.970259
      >Kenney's office has not responded to a request for comment Tuesday, but in an email sent to the Ottawa Citizen his press secretary said the mass mailing was only sent to people who had contacted the minister's office in the past.

      >In 2011, nearly 10,000 people added their names to an electronic petition aimed at stopping the deportation of gay artist Alvaro Orozco.

      That's probably where the SPAM list came from. That's the problem with online partition. Not only they don't take you seriously, they also harvest your email address and put it in the SPAM list. A dead tree snail mail to your MP is free.

    2. Re:internet by Sepodati · · Score: 4, Funny

      How does a targetted email from public info instantly transform into a "government list". You really think there's a secret gay list that your names are on now? Is Santa checking it twice?

      I get penis enlargment emails all the time. I don't wonder "How did he know I have a small dick?"

    3. Re:internet by Nerdfest · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a big difference between targeting demographics and specific people.

    4. Re:internet by flyingsquid · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I know spam is annoying and all... but you Canadians should really take a moment and consider how amazingly lucky you are. Consider that in your country, the conservatives are shamelessly pandering to homosexuals, instead of trying to deny them the rights everybody else has, and treating homosexuality as some kind of failing to cure with prayer. Maybe some day people in this country will get emails about how Republican politicians have promoted gay rights abroad. It could be 20 or 30 years, as the kids who are now in college move up into political positions. Then again, given how things have changed rapidly on the gay marriage front, it may not be quite so long.

    5. Re:internet by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm also Canadian, and I'd like you to consider this:

      The Conservatives (CPC) were never interested in banning gay marriage (or as we call it up here, "marriage") but they were interested in getting the votes from the people who wanted to ban gay marriage. Here's how the vote was done:

      The CPC put the motion in, but then did not use the whip or even require attendance at the vote. (For the Americans, the whip means you're forced to vote with the party or you can lose your seat and it's unlikely that you'll be re-elected. It's not a real whip, all the pity.) Anyway, not forcing people to even show up for the vote would mean that the rest of the House of Commons could vote down the motion with ease BUT then those that didn't show up wouldn't have voting for or against the motion on their record. It was a huge "fuck you, you neanderthal thug" to the people that voted for the CPC with the purpose of banning same-sex marriage.

      After three more elections (long story Yanks, look it up on wikipedia) they still haven't brought it up even as a backbench motion.

      Further, after StatsCan released (several years ago) census data on how few same-sex marriages there are in Canada, several of the lobby groups disbanded. One of the groups was quoted as saying, "After looking at the numbers, we will focus our efforts elsewhere." I think there were more people in the lobby group than there are same-sex marriages.

      They're doing the same thing now with these backbencher motions w.r.t. abortion and when life begins. They aren't going to open the debate, they want to get the votes of people that want them to open the debate. It's a "leash" issue, it keeps that part of their base from looking too hard at the rest of the platform. "Well, they want me to wear an orange jumper and get an implant, but they PROMISED they'd get around to looking at gay marriage / abortion / gun control / etc"

      Also, fuck you and the horse you rode in on for making me, even obliquely, defend those assholes.

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      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    6. Re:internet by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Every once in a while I hear what idiots Harper's Conservatives are; they are not. They are frighteningly politically savvy, and they are playing the game like no other party here is yet.

      I agree with you. The CPC is the most policitally savvy party we've had in Canada for a very, very long time. Harper is incredibly intelligent and highly underestimated.

      They play Canadian politics like I play D&D. I've made DMs leave town.

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      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
  2. So... by Sqr(twg) · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People sent email to the minister of immigration telling him they were interested in gay rights. The minister took note, and then wrote back to tell them about the work he's doing to promote gay rights. Is this not how democracy is supposed to work? Should he ignore his incomming email in order to protect the sender's privacy?

    1. Re:So... by vlm · · Score: 4, Interesting

      People sent email to the minister of immigration

      The funny part is the attempt to cover up "real" data mining. Eh, data mining, don't worry about it, it just means collecting a mailing list.

      Its all to cover up real data mining... mushing your private gmail emailing patterns against your amazon purchases combined with a detailed analysis of every other website you've ever visited and all your facebook friends.

      I wouldn't worry about a guy creating or purchasing an email list. I'd worry about trivializing 1984 style surveillance by calling that action "data mining".

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      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    2. Re:So... by Sqr(twg) · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually yes:

        From TFA: "Whenever someone “signed” the petition, the site automatically sent a form letter by email to Kenney’s office with the signatory’s reply email address."

      So Kenney only sent out email to addresses from which he had previously received email on the same theme. If change.org did not inform the people signing the petition that they were sending out email their behalf, then that's hardly Kenney's fault.

    3. Re:So... by ToadProphet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's a big difference between addressing a specific concern in a constituents correspondence and compiling a list of constituents sexual preferences to use for communication/propaganda/whatever. I've signed petitions regarding copyright reform - that doesn't give the government the right to put me on a list of potential pirates.

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      It's on America's tortured brow, That Mickey Mouse has grown up a cow
    4. Re:So... by Sqr(twg) · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Nobody compiled a list of sexual preferences. The mailing list in question contained people who had expressed concerns about gay refugees' rights. Those people then received an email concerning gay refugees' rights. Some of the people on that list may have been gay, refugees, or both, but the email did not imply that they were.

      Also: You have signed petitions to the goverment stating your opinion, but you don't want the government to note your opinion? Then, why the hell did you sign the petition?

  3. Is this really "the government?" by martas · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This seems more akin to targeted advertising by private entities than "the government assembling lists". They're don't seem to be doing it in any official capacity, but rather as a tactic for promoting their party. Not that I'm saying it's not creepy or a cause for concern! But the implication that this is akin to something the NSA might be doing is, I think, out of place.

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    weinersmith
  4. Re:"How did he know I'm gay?" by garcia · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But that was via assembling data people chose to submit to Target through their purchases. This is the government assembling data that their citizens probably didn't want to submit.

    Remember, you have a choice not to support private business intrusion, you don't have a choice not to support government intrusion.

  5. Much ado about nothing by crazyjj · · Score: 3, Informative

    Apparently, this was the source of the email list:

    nearly 10,000 people who electronically signed a 2011 online petition supporting a gay artist from Nicaragua, who was then facing deportation.

    I think it's perfectly reasonable to assume that those opposing the deportation of a gay artist would also be supporters of gay rights in general (though not necessarily gay themselves).

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    What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
    1. Re:Much ado about nothing by cowboy76Spain · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You are confusing terms.

      The GP didn't say that the government assumes the people who signed the petition is gay, he said that the government (or the minister) thinks that the people that signed the petition worrying about a gay immigrant may be interested in the rights of gay immigrants. I think this is a logic process (except for those who signed because they were relatives/friends/admirer of that particular person, and would not care for any other gay immigrant).

      The logic for "anyone who promotes legalization of drugs is a drug user" is a far more twisted. It involves making assumptions (like that only "current drug users" would support such a law).

      Also, the government didn't compile anything. Probably an association requested the people to sign in and it was that association who did compile the list and gave it to the government. The government just used it.

      The only concern about this issue is the government used data available only to them (that is, that no other political party had access to) and public means to publicite their gestion only for electoral reasons(instead of having the government run the country and the party prepare the elections). But that seems the usual conduct everywhere, so it is less of a news.

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  6. The only thing that worries me is by Chrisq · · Score: 3, Funny

    The only thing that worries me is, how are Gay Jewish Canadian's supposed to vote?