Trump’s data-hungry, invasive app is a voter surveillance tool of extraordinary power

Lockdown forced sports to go virtual. The experience will change it forever 

Sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology 06.22.2020 Good morning! Today: inside Trump's data-hungry voter app, how lockdown has moved sports into the virtual world, and what went wrong with the UK's contact tracing app. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. Take a stand Trump’s data-hungry, invasive app is a powerful voter surveillance tool   What’s new: Data collection and targeted online messaging were integral to the 2016 US presidential election, and they will be again in 2020. But there has been a shift. 2020 will be defined by the use of bespoke campaign apps. These let the Trump and Biden teams speak directly to likely voters. They also allow them to collect massive amounts of user data. Trump’s app: The most powerful thing about the Official Trump 2020 app, which has been downloaded approximately 780,000 times, is the amount of data it collects.  On signing up, users are required to provide a phone number for a verification code, as well as their full name, email address, and zip code. They are also highly encouraged to share the app with their existing contacts, as part of a campaign strategy for reaching the 40 to 50 million citizens expected to vote for Trump’s reelection. Biden’s app: Team Joe, the app put together by Joe Biden’s campaign, has some surface similarities to the Trump app, but it is a very different proposition. It does some things that the Trump app does, including sending users notifications of upcoming campaign events or training sessions for digital activists. But where the Trump app has a range of uses, from spreading tailored campaign messages to airing live streams of rallies, Team Joe is largely built for a single purpose: relational organizing, getting volunteers to leverage their existing networks and relationships in support of Biden. Read the full story. —Jacob Gursky and Samuel Wooley Lockdown forced sports to go virtual. The experience will change it forever The situation: Covid-19 has meant the cancelation of thousands of big sporting events. For top athletes in the Premier League, NFL, NBA, NHL, and more, this meant sitting out most of the season at home. But if your home has an internet connection, you can still play video games. Perfect timing: The last three months have seen the biggest crossover ever between mainstream sports and e-sports. Teams and promoters have been filling their suddenly empty schedules with video-game versions of their sports, keeping both fans and sponsors happy. Broadcasters such as Sky Sports, Fox Sports, and ESPN have shown hours of e-sports coverage, including stars playing football and soccer sims Madden and FIFA. Formula One has run an entire season of grands prix using its officially licensed video game. Is this a long-term trend? Possibly, but not in its usual form. If e-sports has a prime-time future, it might be one that draws as much on Celebrity MasterChef as on hard-core gaming. Read the full story.  —Will Douglas Heaven The UK’s contact tracing app fiasco is a master class in mismanagement A big u-turn: There are advantages to being one of the world’s largest single-payer health-care systems. For the UK’s National Health Service, the NHS, big data is increasingly one of them. But last week, the British government announced it was ditching its original plan for a contact tracing app in favor of a much simpler backup option—drawing criticism and anger. What happened? Basically, overreach. Ministers were focused on rolling out a “world-beating” app, rather than just a successful one. The NHS wanted a centralized model for their app which could collect information to help track the virus in other ways—looking for patterns in the way the disease spreads, identifying clusters, and finding outbreaks early. There were also significant technical obstacles, for example the performance of Bluetooth. The UK is no longer trying to be “world-beating”: the aim now is to produce an app with similar functionality to those attempted by other countries. It’s not clear when this app will launch, but it may be too late to play anything other than a peripheral role in the UK response. What can we learn from all this? Outside concerns about the app were ignored. The project was then managed chaotically and became the subject of bureaucratic tussles. The result was overspending, wasted effort, and—worse—wasted time. Read the full story.  —James Ball We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + A blog entirely dedicated to cross-sectional photos of chocolate bars.   + This sound isn’t actually getting higher. Your brain just thinks it is (apparently.)   + This website lets you scream into the void.   + An essay on the joy of walking.   + Some hilarious cats. Sponsor Message John Chambers Talks Leading Through Uncertainty | HPE Discover Virtual Experience How will businesses emerge stronger and more resilient from times of uncertainty? What are the strategies required for the next wave of digital transformation? Silicon Valley tech legend John Chambers will join Antonio Neri, CEO & President of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, to discuss their experiences on leading through crises while building for the future. Tune in to the keynote at HPE’s free virtual event, starting tomorrow. The top ten must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Yesterday was the pandemic’s biggest single-day jump in new covid cases More than 183,000 new infections were reported in the space of 24 hours. (Axios)   + Where cases are rising, and where they’re falling. (NYT $)   + Countries with a handle on coronavirus are watching the US with alarm. (WP $)   + Apple is re-closing its stores in five states. (TechCrunch)  2 Our biggest questions about immunity to covid-19 We’re still mostly in the dark. (TR)   + People are starting to ask friends to take covid-19 tests before they’ll agree to hang out. (CNBC) 3 TikTokers and K-Pop fans claim credit for Trump’s disappointing rally The campaign fielded more than a million ticket requests. It’s not clear how many were genuine. (NYT $)   + Trump said he ordered a slow down in testing. (CBS) 4 Germany’s R rate has jumped from 1.06 to 2.88 The sudden spike in infections is mostly thanks to a huge outbreak at an abattoir. (FT $) 5 Videoconferencing needs to improve If home working is going to become permanent, we might want a way to chat that feels a bit more natural. (Wired $)   + TV writers, like all of us, have a love/hate relationship with Zoom. (Ars Technica) 6 The IRS bought cellphone location data to try to find suspects This demonstrates how easily anonymized data can be used to identify people. (WSJ $) 7 In defense of suburbs 🏠 The pandemic, and our response to it, is making suburbia look more appealing. (The Atlantic) 8 How a researcher helped soothe his kids’ covid anxiety with science Happier kids and a better grasp of how to run experiments? Win win. (Nature)   + How to cope with the psychological toll of the pandemic. (Axios) 9 What would happen if Twitter banned Trump? Be careful what you wish for. (New Statesman)   + Far-right commentator Katie Hopkins has been permanently booted off Twitter. (BBC)   10 One-fifth of the ocean floor has now been mapped 🗺️ It was only 6% three years ago. (BBC) Meet our 2020 Innovators Under 35. Every year, we profile the outstanding young people behind some of the technologies that will define the coming decades. Check out this year's list of innovators. Quote of the Day “If there is anything that typifies the Boogaloo Bois, it’s that they’re quirky and violent, and run the gamut from joining the anti-police protesters to wanting to kill them.” —Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, tells Wired why the far-right “Boogaloo” movement is so hard to pin down. Top image credit: MS TECH | WIKIMEDIA, UNSPLASH Please send cross-sectional photos of chocolate to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up for free MIT Technology Review's 2020 Innovators Under 35 *Edit email preferences   |   *Unsubscribe from all emails Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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