The campaign is downloaded to "the application" and warns of the use of data

In the same election campaign, WhatsApp, videos and home audios, applications are also beginning to make their appearance.

After learning that Together for Change, he designed an app designed to capture the will of undecided human rights groups – including that of privacy – the first warnings were made.

The application of the officialism indicates in its "permits" that it can request access to the camera, contacts, microphone, phone and memory, among others. In his caption, he states that some of these permissions may be disabled when entering phone settings, but he also warns that "it's possible that Together for Change updates automatically add additional features." in each group ".

"When you download an application, the first thing to display is the terms of use." The source profile indicates an address at Balcarce at 400, and when you enter the privacy policy, it is redirected to the "Together for" site. Change, where it does not show up, nothing is related to a privacy policy appeared ", said ProfessionalBeatriz Busaniche, President of the Vía Libre Foundation.

The directive, which openly criticizes this type of application – even if it is voluntary and everyone chooses to install it on their phone or not – said that "the most serious problem I see is the most serious problem. ". Micro-targetingbecause they have the citizens database and are used. And the official publicity of the campaign is indistinguishable, "he said.

It is clear that this campaign will be more focused on segmentation. A product of the processes that societies go through, the votes of those who have not yet decided them are dispersed in multiple spaces. And you can only tell them strategies based on technologies such as Big Data and artificial intelligence.

"The application does not save the calendar data, it is only accessible, but the application does not transmit anything, it only uses phone resources for the phone." what she has to do, but does not carry any kind of information ", Guillermo Riera, digital advisor for the Together for Change campaign, told iProfesional.

The expert, who also worked on the 2015 campaign, also said that the application did not require geolocation. And he repeated that "phones do not allow you to do what you do not give permission, and here you say what is used."

Data management is an extremely sensitive issue, especially during the election period. Privacy experts still raise alert levels when systems likely to violate human rights, such as privacy, appear.

Added to this is the case of Cambrigde Analytica and Facebook that exploded more than a year ago and raised suspicions about Russia's intrusion into the 2016 US elections, where Donald Trump was erected to the presidency. .

Closer temporally and geographically, the use of the WhatsApp Business functionality for the election campaign in Brazil – won by Jair Bolsonaro – also raised doubts about data management and misinformation.

This also explains why digital platforms and Internet companies, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google, the media and the National Electoral Chamber have signed a commitment to prevent misinformation. Agreement that WhatsApp has not signed, no ill will, by its own characteristic: It's a system for sending private messages, this is not a broadcast platform, so he also has no responsibility for the contents that circulate his users. Reason why the alleged micromilitance is exercised in this space.

This is the strategy defined by the chief of staff, Marcos Peña, and the star advisor Jaime Durán Barba, and in which this type of "power" is put forward so that the citizen becomes a diffuser of his will that such or such candidate prevail in elections. This "power" now also extends to the application, where WhatsApp also has its space.

It is a gesture that takes extra meaning in front of an electorate in general. Election announcements are received "between widespread disgust and acceptance, but only for certain coins." The feeling of fatigue predominates, with 38%, more visible in the over 40s, followed by exhaustion with 18 % ", has determined a report established for the Association Argentine of the publicity (AAP) by the consultants D'Alessio Irol and Berenzstein.

The report also states that candidates only promise to vote and that almost half think they are far from the interests of citizens. Millennials and centenarians, that is, voters under the age of 40, are a little more receptive. Thus, 20% of the campaign model was allocated to digital media.

Data yes

Together for change is, up to now, the only front that applies these features. The Front of all also has its own but only to download stickers (also the official) for WhatsApp. Until now, these files are free from any form of mistrust.

Yes, you must indicate your identity in the application of Together for Change, avoid the gender and indicate in which region of the country you live and with which phone number. From this information, the user of this phone will receive his message from the application in the form of a video and a citizen belonging to the same province as the detailed one.

"The application can request any kind of non-sensitive public access information, which they can not do is request data for purposes for which it was not requested. they can ask for them as part of the campaign, with In addition, the party in power is very well informed about data management issues, "said a lawyer specializing in security and privacy who preferred Reserve.

But suspicions always appear, whether on one side or the other of the crack or that you intend to cross the center. Because no one can guarantee that this collection of information can not be used for other purposes.

"Whoever has more data controls you more and can use them for anything", the lawyer added. Vision shared by a computer security expert who stated that, even if it is clear that the idea of ​​the campaign is to "viraliser", when an application asks for too much license, it can be dangerous. "

Until now, the application of Together for Change is in beta. And as Riera confirmed, there are more than 2,500 downloads. It still lacks some features and, given its recent appearance, they dare not predict the number of downloads that it could have more, but even more so because it has not been officially presented.

The request for authorization is most obvious when the user of the application is asked to go to "My List" where it says "I have convinced your friends undecided". To process this action, the application must be allowed to access the contacts. If we refuse it, nothing will happen.

Before that, there is another feature called "Sumá has an amigo". To do this, you must enter the first name, the name, the email address and the cell phone with the area code, but there is also a warning: this contact will receive an email inviting to to join and if he does not agree, he will not be entered on this basis.

"The growing collection of personal data is even more worrying, even more in the context of election campaigns. At a minimum, it is essential to have a complete and accessible privacy policy that details the way information is collected by using each feature of the application, the length of time it is stored, and the people with whom it is shared. who has access, for example. mention some concerns, "said Leandro Uciferri of the Association for Civil Rights (CDA).

This badociation has developed, alongside the campaign, the tool with which it collects data on what is happening with election advertising on social networks, without affecting the privacy of users. And apply on Facebook.

Given the description of this scenario, Riera again badured that "we never communicate with anything." Access to photos and audio is to share videos, but if they do not are not shared, they are not, the application is simple and it says what is used, "he said.

Several of the people consulted for this note agreed that this would not reduce the application of Together for Change from their personal team, as their information could be in danger..

The content of the application is a brief news of what the official wants to show: public works. The focus is on it, on users who amplify what is seen on TV, which is heard on the radio and also on social networks. And also in what users see in improvements to their neighborhood or their city "with photos, audios or videos."

The campaign, especially the one that takes place digitally, is facing its final journey to PASO, for which only 16 days remain. Anything that can be pulled from the emotion and fingers will be the priority of each day.

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