Targeted

Book excerpt: An “important and gripping” memoir by the woman who blew the whistle on Cambridge Analytica and the data industry’s unethical practices (The Washington Post). When Brittany Kaiser joined Cambridge Analytica—the UK-based political consulting firm funded by conservative billionaire and Donald Trump patron Robert Mercer—she was an idealistic young professional, a veteran of Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign with degrees in human rights law and international relations. Her goal was to utilize data for humanitarian purposes, most notably to prevent genocide and human rights abuses. But her experience inside Cambridge Analytica opened her eyes to the tremendous risks this unregulated industry poses to privacy and democracy. In this explosive memoir, she reveals the disturbing truth about the multi-billion-dollar data industry, revealing how companies are getting richer using our personal information and exposing how Cambridge Analytica exploited weaknesses in privacy laws to help elect Donald Trump in 2016. Targeted is Kaiser’s eyewitness chronicle of the dramatic and disturbing story of the rise and fall of Cambridge Analytica. She reveals how Facebook’s lax policies and lack of sufficient national laws allowed voters to be manipulated in both Britain and the US, where personal data was weaponized to spread fake news and racist messaging during the Brexit vote and the 2016 election. In the aftermath, as she became aware of the horrifying reality of what Cambridge Analytica had done, Kaiser made the difficult choice to expose the truth. Risking her career, relationships, and personal safety, she told authorities about the industry’s unethical practices, eventually testifying before Parliament about the company’s Brexit efforts and helping Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, alongside at least ten other international investigations. Packed with never-before-publicly-told stories, Targeted goes inside the secretive meetings with Trump campaign personnel—and makes the case that legal oversight of the data industry is not only justifiable but essential to ensuring the long-term safety of our democracy. “Captivating and revelatory.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) Includes photographs