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The tech industry (please spare the arguments about whether Lyft is a tech company for a moment) getting into elections can be scary. Facebook would help you r

The tech industry (please spare the arguments about whether Lyft is a tech company for a moment) getting into elections can be scary. Facebook would help you register, and is now offering to find your polling places. Suppose they only offered this for people their data mining suggests are of a certain political persuasion, but not others. Or suppose Lyft only operated this in cities that primarily matched their views (SF yes, but San Diego no, because it leans slightly more conservative because of the military population). Should we expect big data to be neutral in how they make elections friendlier?

meowface 10y ago
Sure, it has potential to be scary, but what's wrong with encouraging people to vote in general? Since there's seemingly no evidence of Facebook or Lyft targeting this to certain demographics, it seems neutral.
nsgi 10y ago
What if one party offered to pay transport costs for people voting for them? Would that be classed as bribery?
- pjc50 10y ago
  Don't US parties routinely give lifts to people to the polls? They do in the UK. (They're not allowed to pay transport costs, but they are allowed to organise transport)
  - paulddraper 10y ago
    Yes, they do. I was at the University of Florida for the 2008 election. The Democratic Party arranged for shuttle transportation from campus to early voting locations. You didn't have to be or vote Democrat to use the service, but they were helping college students in their early 20s vote...the proclivities were obvious.
paulddraper 10y ago
Eh. This has been happening forever. Free rides from college campuses to early voting favor liberals. Free rides in senior neighborhoods favor conservatives. Heck, Ben and Jerry's always gives away free ice cream, and they're save-the-world hippies.
pjc50 10y ago
How is this scarier than news companies getting into elections, or any of the normal donations of vast amounts of money by businesses for lobbying?
bfuller 10y ago
It's an interesting question. I recently got called in to jury duty, and they offer you a bus pass here. I live in a major metro where just going to another part of town, let alone downtown, can take HOURS riding the bus. Will there some day be a lyft/uber/whatever driver at my door, transporting me to do my civic duty? I find it fascinating, really.

meowface 10y ago

Sure, it has potential to be scary, but what's wrong with encouraging people to vote in general? Since there's seemingly no evidence of Facebook or Lyft targeting this to certain demographics, it seems neutral.

nsgi 10y ago

What if one party offered to pay transport costs for people voting for them? Would that be classed as bribery?

pjc50 10y ago
Don't US parties routinely give lifts to people to the polls? They do in the UK. (They're not allowed to pay transport costs, but they are allowed to organise transport)
- paulddraper 10y ago
  Yes, they do. I was at the University of Florida for the 2008 election. The Democratic Party arranged for shuttle transportation from campus to early voting locations. You didn't have to be or vote Democrat to use the service, but they were helping college students in their early 20s vote...the proclivities were obvious.

paulddraper 10y ago

Eh. This has been happening forever. Free rides from college campuses to early voting favor liberals. Free rides in senior neighborhoods favor conservatives. Heck, Ben and Jerry's always gives away free ice cream, and they're save-the-world hippies.

pjc50 10y ago

How is this scarier than news companies getting into elections, or any of the normal donations of vast amounts of money by businesses for lobbying?

bfuller 10y ago

It's an interesting question. I recently got called in to jury duty, and they offer you a bus pass here. I live in a major metro where just going to another part of town, let alone downtown, can take HOURS riding the bus. Will there some day be a lyft/uber/whatever driver at my door, transporting me to do my civic duty? I find it fascinating, really.