Data and Politics

Continued developments in digital technologies have given rise to a new political modus operandi. Politically active groups around the globe are using tools and techniques from marketing, statistics and psychology to advance their agendas, to promote their campaigns and to influence voters.

As these political groups amass and leverage data on voters, they increasingly adopt a commercial approach to data collection. This data-centric business model, which has transformed countless other domains, has become an inextricable part of modern-day politicking. The Data and Politics project aims to explore which political entities are using what types of data, how their various methods work, and how they are affecting democracies worldwide.

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More from this project

[Our partners] Interview with Clement Njoroge, Founder and Director - MediaNet Works.

Tactical Tech interviewed Clement Njoroge, Founder and Director of MediaNet Works, an initiative that empowers communities, especially the younger generation so that they can reap the benefits of the Internet and the general ICTs available to them. Media Net is working to incorporate marginalised groups by building relationships and learning how technology is used in the communities now and how it could be used in their lives.

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Campaign Apps Ghana 2020

How was a mobile phone shop in Vietnam able to access personal data from voters in Ghana? The third part of our Data & Politics series on Medium looks at campaign apps in the 2020 Ghanaian election.

Why Investigate Election Apps?

The second in this series of articles on Medium from our Data & Politics project looks at how the 'appification' of nearly every aspect of our lives has spread to politics, elections and issue campaigning.

Transparency in Data-Driven Campaigns

Tactical Tech’s Data & Politics Team is excited to announce that the Swedish Postcode Foundation will support our latest initiative to create transparency on the use of personal data in political campaigns and the surrounding influence industry.

Data & Politics: Global Partnerships

In order to investigate the 'Influence Industry' in different contexts and countries, our Data & Politics project has partnered with a diverse range of organisations and individuals in the Global South. Find out more about the work these partners do.

A Voter's Guide: 7 Tips to Detox Your Data

Our Voter’s Guide explains how personal data is collected and used by political parties and candidates – and what voters can do about it. The seven tips are now available in both English and Dutch.

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Your Data, Our Democracy

As elections become increasingly data-intensive, our personal data is becoming a political asset for campaigns to leverage. This new animation, in English and Dutch, explains how this process happens - and what we can do about it.

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As The World Goes Online, Politics is There to Meet Us

As the world goes online amid the coronavirus pandemic, it is no surprise that politics is moving online too. Tactical Tech’s Data and Politics Team have identified five digital campaigning trends that we’re likely to see more of in the coming weeks and months.

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Digital Listening: Insights from social media

When you tweet your opinion about Brexit or Trump, you probably don't expect the content of your tweet to become part of an analysis of public opinion on the topic. This article explains the emerging field of digital listening and how it assess the feeling of individual potential voters and the overall public mood.

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The Glass Room: Capsule 2.0

The Glass Room presents Capsule 2.0, 'Nothing Personal?', our latest showcase of digital objects, both old and new. This second capsule explores how technologies are designed, branded and engineered to collect deeply personal data and influence our real-time behaviours.

A Data-Day

Check out this updated visualisation of the data you give away when you click 'I Agree', with key phrases from the terms and conditions of popular apps and services.

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