Yes We Can (Profile You): A Brief Primer on Campaigns and Political Data

[Commentary] Data plays an increasingly large role in campaigning, especially in the ways that candidates communicate with the electorate. Campaigns have a vast array of new means to craft, deliver, and measure the effectiveness of strategic communications. Underlying all of this is a vast data infrastructure that makes targeted online advertising and marketing possible, as well as has contributed to a revival of field campaigning over the last decade. These data practices both increase participation and voter turnout, even as they undermine privacy and democratic practice.