It will not be just big brother watching; political campaigns are seeking to capitalize on the location data you cell phone provides, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The geofencing strategy was employed by a pro-Trump Republican PAC, which used the data to target ads at voters it could drive to the polls of a North Carolina special election in September.
The PAC, the Committee to Defend the President, is going to use the strategy in 2020 swing states to find unregistered voters for President Donald Trump, according to PAC Chair Ted Harvey.
"It's another aggressive, on-the-ground effort to get those people identified," Harvey told the Journal.
The report outlined the use of geofencing by a consulting firm – not the campaign itself – for ex-Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, capturing data and email addresses of voters at a Willie Nelson concert, per the report.
"It's the marriage of the online and offline data about the individual — that's the biggest force multiplier," a former campaign consultant for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Justin Miller told the Journal.
"I would gladly trade job security for more privacy, but since we don't have it, I'll keep building models."
Former consulting firm Cambridge Analytica was embroiled in the investigation in the 2016 presidential election meddling, so privacy fears in the next presidential election cycle are palpable.
"People might get freaked out about this technology," Democratic political strategist Kimberly Taylor told the Journal. "But we're trying to use it for good, trying to engage more people in the process."
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