Guns lobbyists spent decades building a database of gun owners in the United States. During the 2016 election, it transferred the information to the now unexpected political consultant group Cambridge Analytic To help make the US presidential election swing its way. It has worked and now thousands of gun owners learn that their names are in databases they have never agreed to enter.
Propublica reported on the story of the way guns, guns and gun manufacturers abuse of customer privacy And Data For years now. Its its Latest survey links the points between purchases made decades ago, lobbying companies and political consultants.
For decades the group -LBIA Group The National Gun Sports Foundation (NSSF) has worked with manufacturers and shops to ascertain who bought guns in the United States that the database was built using guarantee cards, information from hunting licenses and data extracted from information obtained at the sales point.
In 2016, when the gun industry faced what it felt was an existential threat, it joined its database of customers and contracted Cambridge Analytica to help them ascertain how to get them to vote for Donald Trump. The analysis company crucified the NSSF’s customer database with other information it collected to US voters. It ordered these people into categories and began micro-targeting them with advertisements online.
If you bought a gun, gun, or ammunition in the United States from the 1980s to date, it is a good chance that one of these databases has a profile of you. According to a reporting of Propublica, it was known to revenue from a potential voter, their debts, religion, personal interests and online buying history.
Propublica seized part of the database and contacted 6,000 people on it to find out how they feel sorted and cataloged by the people from whom they bought weapons. Many were shocked to find out that they were on a list and felt their privacy was violated. One of the interesting details of the story is how little information was needed to finish in a database.
“Joseph Leforge, a self-described” Privacy Nut, “struggled to understand how it could happen. The 74-year-old entrepreneur does not have a Facebook account or email address and spoke to Propublica via Flip phone. He wondered if he threw a wire when he bought shotguns more than a decade ago.
The National Shooting -Sports Foundation is a US business association, which formed in 1961 and Lobis on behalf of gun manufacturers since then. It is less known than the National Rifle Association, but perhaps better at its job. It has problems with American politicians and regulators several times since their creation.
If an NSSF member steps out, they are punished. In 2000, gunner -maker Smith & Wesson agreed to work with the Clinton administration on safer handguns. The NSSF called Smith & Wesson to task the deal and shops across the country boycotted the company. They almost went bankrupt. The FTC explored NSSF for organizing the boycott but dropped the case After a three -year survey.
Recently, lawmakers went after NSSF because of its abuse of customer information and links to Cambridge Analytica. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat in NSSF’s home state of Connecticut, has repeatedly criticized the company for this. “Congress deserves a full explanation of the process of collecting Letter to the lobby group in 2022.
