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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."

8 of 145 comments (clear)

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

    tracking your browsing might clue them in I suppose.

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    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.

  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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    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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