Indiana News

Are Social Media Camps Invading Privacy?

11/1/2012

Indiana social media and legal experts say the presidential campaigns are using social media in ways that may surprise you.

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Steven Shattuck is community manager for Indianapolis based Slingshot SEO. Shattuck says both the Barack Obama and Mitt Romney campaigns, among others are effectively recruiting social media users who are also sending out messages to support their camps. Shattuck says those people are already proactive supporters.

However, he says the campaigns are also using mobile apps that are "scaping" user data like geographic and personal information from social media sites. Shattuck says transparency is the issue. He says many people aren't aware of what's going on and how the information is being used by the campaigns.

Indiana University Maurer School of Law Professor Fred Cate says the campaigns are also using cookies in computer browsers to track users, create profiles and place future ads in places they visit. Cate says the United States is the only nation in the world where it's legal to use cookies to track online visitors. Cate says it raises serious privacy questions about how personal information can be used against online visitors if the information gets in the wrong hands. Cate says it's best to clear cookies and online history from computers on a regular basis.

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