It is finally Thursday, April 14, in the second part of the evening, that will be broadcast Big data: when politicians target us in “Complément d’Enquête” on France 2.
This Thursday at 11 p.m. on @france2tvdiscover our report on electoral targeting, presented by @tristanwaleckx .
To what details of our private life do the parties have access? #Complementenquete on these big data that presidential candidates are fighting over. ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/YB9we20huC
— Further investigation (@Cdenquete) April 12, 2022
This report by Chloé Vienne reveals to the general public a practice that has become widespread: electoral targeting. It consists of election candidates sending messages (SMS, voice, emails) to citizens to encourage them to vote for them. Emmanuel Macron was the only one to do so in 2017. For the 2022 campaign, almost all the suitors used it: “Except the very small parties like those of Philippe Poutou or Nathalie Arthaud. It really became widespread in the European elections in 2019. And then after, in the regional ones. But it remains taboo.”confides the director.
“It’s nebulous”
In his investigation, only Nicolas Dupont-Aignan assumes to do electoral targeting. Like the others, he bought the personal data of thousands or millions of French people from companies specializing in data collection. “You are on the internet, you play contests, you answer questions, you want to watch a video, you are sometimes asked for your personal data with very specific questions about your behavior, your lifestyle. And in fact, these data are resold by the platforms to electoral targeting companies. And this is where it is nebulous. Because the Internet user does not imagine at all that these data, a few months later, will be used for political purposes. This is not specified in the legal notice”, notes Chloé Vienne.
Initially scheduled for April 8, the broadcast of this “Complementary investigation” had been urgently deprogrammed. Officially because of the reserve period which opened 24 hours later. The defendants would not have had enough time to possibly respond to the attacks.