In this explosive memoir, a political consultant and technology
whistleblower reveals the disturbing truth about the
multi-billion-dollar data industry, revealing to the public how
companies are getting richer using our personal information and
exposing how Cambridge Analytica exploited weaknesses in privacy laws
to help elect Donald Trump—and how this could easily happen again
in the 2020 presidential election.
When Brittany Kaiser joined Cambridge Analytica—the UK-based
political consulting firm funded by conservative billionaire and
Donald Trump patron Robert Mercer—she was an idealistic young
professional working on her fourth degree in human rights law and
international relations. A veteran of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign,
Kaiser’s goal was to utilize data for humanitarian purposes, most
notably to prevent genocide and human rights abuses. But her
experience inside Cambridge Analytica opened her eyes to the
tremendous risks that this unregulated industry poses to privacy and
democracy.
Targeted is
Kaiser’s eyewitness chronicle of the dramatic and disturbing story
of the rise and fall of Cambridge Analytica. She reveals to the
public how Facebook’s lax policies and lack of sufficient national
laws allowed voters to be manipulated in both Britain and the United
States, where personal data was weaponized to spread fake news and
racist messaging during the Brexit vote and the 2016 election. But
the damage isn’t done Kaiser warns; the 2020 election can be
compromised as well if we continue to do nothing.
In the aftermath of
the U.S. election, as she became aware of the horrifying reality of
what Cambridge Analytica had done in support of Donald Trump, Kaiser
made the difficult choice to expose the truth. Risking her career,
relationships, and personal safety, she told authorities about the
data industry’s unethical business practices, eventually testifying
before Parliament about the company’s Brexit efforts and helping
Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian
interference in the 2016 election, alongside at least 10 other
international investigations.
Packed with
never-before-publicly-told stories and insights, Targeted goes
inside the secretive meetings with Trump campaign personnel and
details the promises Cambridge Analytica made to win. Throughout,
Kaiser makes the case for regulation, arguing that legal oversight of
the data industry is not only justifiable but essential to ensuring
the long-term safety of our democracy.
Targeted
includes 20-30 photos.