A few years back, I
volunteered for a candidate running for state representative. I’ve always been interested in politics and
how the machine works, but when I was in high school, I realized that other
people don’t care what you believe and it’s generally easier to not talk about
it. I’m paraphrasing heavily; I don’t
know who said this and I’m probably saying it wrong but “If you want to make
friends, don’t talk about religion or politics.”
At
this point I was an idiot in high school and I was talking about politics. A friend of mine who shared my views was a
family friend of a woman who was running for state representative. The day before the election, my friend texted
me and asked if I would be interested in helping with the election.
The
headquarters for the candidate was close to my house. My friend picked me up in the morning and
drove me to the HQ. I shook hands with the candidate, and they put
me to work.
I
was handed a laptop and a prepaid cellphone.
The laptop had a database, listing the name, address, phone
number, party affiliation and more information of every registered voter in
the district.
My
job was simple. I sorted the database by
voter age, and excluded non-party members.
I went down the list, calling each one, with the script “Hello, my name
is Dennis Stewart. I’m calling on behalf
of [candidate name’s] campaign. Will you
need a ride to the polls today?” I gave
the addresses of the ones who needed help to my friend, who was driving for the
campaign.
Most
of the people I called had already voted, or had a ride lined up for the polls
already. A few asked me how I had their
contact information. The candidate I was
helping won with a decent margin, so I can’t pretend that I was all
that stood between loss and victory. It
was a good experience though, and I think the most important thing I got out of
it was learning about the market for election software.
It
had never occurred to me the need for this kind of software. Seeing as state elections only happen every
two years, and only so many people run, I didn’t think there was a huge market
for it. I can’t remember the name of the
program anymore, but before I left, I asked some of the campaign workers about
it. The software was made by independent
contractors. They sold licenses in bulk
to parties in various states.
Reading
the EFF newswire this week, I was surprised to learn about ComputerCOP, a
poorly made piece of spyware for parents to install on computers used by their
kids. I wasn’t surprised by the
unencrypted keylogger output or the myriad other security issues, those are pretty
much par for the course in the field of pay-for spyware. I was surprised by the software’s
distribution and licensing method.
While
ComputerCOP was sold directly to end-users in the 1990’s, they ended sales as
the market was flooded with parental control tools. Instead, ComputerCOP is sold to law
enforcement agencies. A sheriff’s
department or police department buys thousands of copies in bulk. In return, ComputerCOP will send a camera
crew and record a video with the head of the department. The software is stamped with the chief’s
face, and a custom box is printed with prominent names. Departments then distribute the software for
free and receive media coverage and support from grateful parents who are glad
their children are now safe from the horrors of the internet. ComputerCOP describes the product as the “perfect
election and fundraising tool.”
The
software is almost always purchased using tax dollars, making it essentially free
advertising for candidates, who are mostly clueless about the software’s ineffectiveness
and security holes. All companies need
software to support them, either internally like the election software, or
externally as marketing. It doesn’t
matter if it’s Disney using customer databases and releasing free, thinly
veiled advertisement apps, or your local government.
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