Rand Paul: Troll Me, and I’ll Track Your Phone

His campaign released an app that lets you take “selfies” with him. Guess what happened next.

And I'll track your phone!RandPaul.com

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


Rand Paul’s campaign established itself as the cool internet campaign early when it hired Austin-based GOP digital hipster Vincent Harris to run a small social media empire heavy on memes. But the campaign’s latest effort to appeal to the youth seems mostly like an invitation to troll the struggling candidate—except that it’s also kind of creepy.

Paul took to Twitter this afternoon to announce the launch of his new official campaign app—available for free in Apple and Android stores—which promises the latest “insider” Rand Paul news and event listings, as well as “fun” features like a tool to take fake “selfies” with Paul and a hidden Space Invaders-style game in which Paul’s logo shoots at the logos of other candidates. (Sound fun?)

And, of course, it’s easy to mess with.

Not all the “selfies” aimed so low (though others aimed much lower).

Alex Hart, the digital content director for liberal advocacy group People for the American Way, saw an opportunity to get Paul to endorse her group’s message:

And conservative Iowa activist Craig Robinson gleefully toyed with his new ability to place Paul wherever he wanted (including in jail and alongside Paul’s former top aide and nephew Jesse Benton, who was indicted last month on federal campaign finance charges):

As the New York Times pointed out, other campaigns have had apps before, but they are usually criticized for just pandering to the already converted. That’s why having fun angles are worth it, even if they have the potential to backfire. They reel in new contacts for the campaign.

And that’s what is really going on here. The app is designed to suck supporters (and their personal information) into the campaign’s databases. Merely by installing the app, users are letting the campaign into their phones to collect the kind of information that people are often reluctant to give up, but which is so vital to building a national network of supporters and small-dollar donors.

For example, according to the permissions disclaimer in the Android store, installing the app gives the campaign permission to locate you via GPS and check your phone to see what social media accounts you have. A spokesman for the campaign did not return requests for comment on how the campaign will use that data. One clue: The app was developed by CanDo Politics, a conservative political fundraising group that has often worked for Paul in the past.

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate