Big Tech Slip-Up Gives Democrats a Huge Advantage In Election

Giant “ACCIDENT” Just Gave Democrats An Advantage

(RightWing.org) – Snap Inc. is a technology company that develops and maintains digital products, services, and, oddly enough — cameras. Perhaps, it’s best known for Snapchat, a messaging and photo-sharing app popular with users transmitting sensitive information since messages expire after a brief period. It also operates the cartooning platform Bitmoji. Now, a recent slip-up by the Big Tech company gave Democrats a huge advantage in the upcoming midterm elections.

Snap hosts a significant number of political advertisements throughout its platforms. Republican candidates and groups typically use the services of a data mining company called i360. Founded in 2009, the company maintains a “comprehensive data resource” of eligible voters and shares that information with clients to help them target political ads with a laser-sharp focus on certain demographic elements. Democrats use TargetSmart for similar services.

SCOOP: A slip-up by social media giant Snap allowed leading Democratic campaigns and party committees to unwittingly tap into a vast repository of Republican voter data to hone their midterm ads. https://t.co/MYLk60CnhM

— Axios (@axios) September 8, 2022

Both companies make a massive repository of voter information, including voters’ interests, spending habits, activities, and other personal info, available to other advertisers. The tech company limits access to the data to preapproved lists of partners, but an internal error granted access to non-approved organizations.

Although the error impacted both Republican and Democrat-led advertisers, left-leaning organizations profited the most from the blunder. For example, groups like the Democratic National Committee and Senatorial Campaign used i360 data for their ad campaigns. Similarly, individuals like Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams used the information.

There’s no indication Democrats or Republicans knowingly took advantage of the mistake. However, it could impact the midterms to the detriment of Republican-led ballot initiatives and candidates.