Decipering the code

Posted at 1:44 PM on February 27, 2006 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

Reporter Tom Scheck just gave me a copy of the CD the Republican Party is mailing out to voters in certain districts. It's a very impressive technical product (in Flash) featuring the top elected Republicans in the state talking about the need for a constitutional amendment defining marriage (aka: "the same-sex marriage ban").

I don't know how many people actually will put these things in the computer and take a look at them. Is there a lot left to say that people haven't already heard on this debate?

But here's the thing. The CD -- at least mine -- comes with an access code. And during the presentation, you're asked to "vote" on a couple of issues, including the 2nd Amendment.

OK, this is where I get suspicious. WHY is there a code. And where is that "vote" going? Is every voter being identified with a special code and therefore is input entered by the user during a presentation being sent back to the Republican Party of Minnesota?

I checked the "terms of use" and I could find nothing that gave me any indication. Nor is there a privacy statement anywhere that I could find.

Perhaps with the literature that is being sent with the disk (I didn't get literature), it has some sort of privacy statement.

I'm going to play around with it a bit more because it is a fascinating tool, obviously put together by a firm that knows what it's doing. I've been dabbling in Flash for years and putting something like this together isn't easy. The GOP in Minnesota has -- in recent years, anyway -- been a little more out in front than its DFL counterpart in recognizing new ways to use media. They don't seem to define the "m" word strictly as "newspaper, radio, TV."

But, like I said, I'd like to know what this disk is sending back about me and what personal information -- if any -- is being stored and how it's being used -- if at all.

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Comments (4)

Mulder!

Posted by Gary M. Miller | February 27, 2006 3:19 PM

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Using cutting edge technology to promote a backward thinking idea, gotta hand it to the Republicans.....or something like that...

Posted by daveZ | February 27, 2006 10:11 PM

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How can I get a copy of that?

Posted by Mr. Sponge | February 28, 2006 6:16 AM

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Professionally speaking, I'd like to see the terms of use on that.

I'm also curious, is it not available online?

-Julia Schrenkler
Interactive Producer, MPR New Media

Posted by Julia Schrenkler | February 28, 2006 8:31 AM

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