White House data mining on Facebook with "Commit to Vote" campaign

Starting Saturday night, Facebook users, especially politically active ones, found their walls peppered with a cute little patriotic logo put there by their friends (or, more accurately, an application their friends used) asking them to click on it to "Commit to Vote." This made a big hit, especially among Tea Partiers who most certainly are committed to vote. What they didn't notice is that one of the links to this apparently patriotic app went directly to Barackobama.com. Oops. Seemed like a minor irritation at first (or major, depending on how many of your friends fell for it), but further investigation reveals some really insidious aspects of this seemingly harmless app. A blog on Forbes.com was the first, and so far the only media outlet to report on it:

The Facebook application lets your friends know you plan to vote and encourages them through posting inspirational messages and videos to your wall. Not only does the application want to know all about you, it also wants to know who all of your friends are, along with their religious and political beliefs.

Here's the permissions you must grant this app in order to use it:

Nice, huh? With the click of the mouse, you're authorizing the FRIGGIN' WHITE HOUSE to mine not only YOUR profile, but to gather the names of ALL YOUR FRIENDS, their birthdays, locations and RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL VIEWS. Of course, this is nothing new. It's been known for some time that the White House has been mining data from Facebook, but to my knowledge this is the first time it has done it through an app, which takes advantage of a default security setting of which most Facebook users are probably not aware. That default security setting allows third-party apps that your friends use to access most of your profile information that you may have kept private on your main security settings. So, essentially, when your Facebook friend clicks on the app, they're reporting you and your information to the Federal government.

The White House has gotten in trouble before for this. On August 4, 2009, a White House blogger posted "Facts are Stubborn Things," in which they asked readers to help them track "rumors" about health care reform:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

Well, that last sentence got them into a pile of trouble. At least one physicians' organization sued, Karl Rove called them out for keeping "enemies lists," and Sen. John Conryn sent a letter demanding to know:

• How do you intend to use the names, email addresses, IP addresses, and identities of citizens who are reported to have engaged in "fishy" speech?
• How do you intend to notify citizens who have been reported for "fishy" speech?
• What action do you intend to take against citizens who have been reported for engaging in "fishy" speech?
• Do your own past statements qualify as "disinformation"? For example, is it "disinformation" to note that in 2003 you said: "I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care plan"?

The email address was taken down almost immediately, but there have been no real answers to those questions. But more than that, it's possible that such information gathering is illegal, as was pointed out by Fox News judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano. He cited the Privacy Act of 1974, which essentially prohibits any federal agency from maintaining records of people exercising their right to free speech.

Isn't that exactly what they were doing with this app?

It is my opinion that what the White House has done now is blatantly illegal, just as the "fishy email" scandal was. My GOD, people, how long are we going to put up with this?

I will post this blog entry far and wide, and I will not rest until this makes national news. Please help by forwarding this to anyone you know who still gives a damn about their rights as guaranteed by our Constitution. I can only do this with your help.

FACEBOOK USERS - PLEASE READ MY NOTE

CRITICAL SECURITY

Obama's data mining scam "Commit to Vote" which is popping up all over Facebook is ONE SCARY APP. If your friends click on it and give permissions, it mines not only THEIR personal information, but a list of their friends (including YOU) and their birthdays, political and religious views and current cities (including YOURS). Block this app now by clicking this link:

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=111399285589490

On the left side of the screen, under the cute, patriotic-looking logo, click "Block this App." Poof! Done, you think. Not really! You may still have granted permission for apps to mine your data through your friends' activity! You can prevent applications from mining YOUR data at the whim of a friend's click by de-authorizing apps your friends use in your application privacy settings.

From any Facebook page, click on "Account" in the upper right hand corner of the window, and select "Privacy Settings."

http://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=privacy

At the bottom of the page is a link that says "Applications and Settings," with a link just below to "Edit these settings." The second item on the resulting page is "Info accessible through your friends - Control what information is available to applications and websites when your friends use them." Click on "Edit settings."

Now sit back and be shocked that by default, ALL YOUR INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE TO APPLICATIONS when your friends use them! Nice, huh? Uncheck everything! Then save your settings.

GO FORTH AND DO IT NOW. Then share this note!!