So this week Bernie Sanders’ campaign announced the new BERN system to increase its voter base. According to reports

The online tool allows everyday supporters to contribute to the campaign’s voter database by logging names and background information of anyone from a family member to a stranger met at a bus stop. It matches each name to a voter record before noting their level of support, priority issue and even union membership.

NBC news

So basically, it is asking Americans to provide lots of data, lots of private data, about family, friends, or frankly anyone you meet. They want you to give them this data so that they can use it to get them to vote for Bernie.

Now, politics aside, whoever came up with this idea should be fired immediately as it is a horrible idea. It is one more way to erode privacy and it appears that all this information is entered into the database without the consent of the person who’s data it is. It is shocking to me that this is happening and now likely to happen in many other places. And who knows what will happen with the database after the campaign is over.

The last line of the article is the clincher – “You plug in people’s names and you let other people send the emails.” In other words, give us your family and friends data and we’ll spam them because you lack the courage to talk to them yourself.