The Deutsche Post subsidiary Deutsche Post Direkt has rejected claims that it "flogged" client microtargeting data to clients, including German political parties such as the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Free Democrats (FDP).

The Bild am Sonntag newspaper reported that the two parties had bought "more than a billion" details of personal data about potential voters from the subsidiary, which offers targeted-mailing concepts to its clients.

Read more: CDU, SPD, Greens use big data to target Bundestag voters

Deutsche Post insists that it never sells details of addresses or individual households, and that the data it offers to clients — which it calls microcells — is based on "a standard of 6.6 households" to work out "statistical probabilities." The company stresses that it adheres to Germany's strict data protection laws.

CDU, FDP defend practice

Bild reported that Deutsche Post had been selling voter data to political parties since 2005 and that the CDU and the FDP had spent "five-figure sums" to acquire such data in the run-up to the German national elections last September.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? The faces behind the scandal Facebook has been slammed for failing to protect the data of more than 50 million users. Their data was used to further conservative political projects, including Brexit and Donald Trump's presidential victory. From a former White House strategist to a Canadian whistle blower, here are the people involved in what some are describing as Facebook's largest data breach.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Whistleblower who hacked Facebook A 28-year-old Canadian data analytics expert first blew the whistle on the scandal to Britain’s Observer newspaper. Christopher Wylie claims he set up the project for Cambridge Analytica and helped forge ties with Donald Trump’s campaign. He revealed that millions of profiles were hijacked to influence the election. Cambridge Analytica says Wylie has been "misrepresenting himself and the company."

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Cambridge Analytica boss Cambridge Analytica CEO, Alexander Nix, was one of several senior executives filmed by an undercover reporter from Britain's Channel 4. Nix claimed credit for Donald Trump's 2016 electoral victory. He also said his political consultancy could feed untraceable messages on social media. Executives bragged that the firm could use misinformation, bribery and even prostitutes to help win elections.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Psychology academic behind Facebook app A Moldovan-born Cambridge University researcher developed a personality app that harvested the personal data of 30 million Facebook users. Aleksandr Kogan said he passed the information to Cambridge Analytica, under assurances that what he was doing was legal. But now he says the research firm and Facebook are scapegoating him over the scandal.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Facebook chief was 'deceived' over data use Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was criticized for waiting for four days to respond to the scandal. His social media network claims to be the victim of the whole saga, insisting it was unaware of how the data was being used. Still, Zuckerberg has been summoned by the British and European parliaments, while US consumer regulators have launched an investigation into the firm's use of personal data.

Who's who in the Cambridge Analytica scandal? Trump strategist with Cambridge links Trump's former strategist Steve Bannon helped develop the populist, anti-Washington message that helped the billionaire win the White House. A founding member of right-wing outlet Breitbart News, Bannon is a former board member of Cambridge Analytica and brought in wealthy businessman Robert Mercer as a financial backer. He left the White House last August and Trump has since cut him off. Author: Nik Martin



The CDU confirmed that it bought data from Deutsche Post to help with door-to-door campaigning. The data was completely anonymized, the party claimed in a statement, insisting that "all of the CDU's digital activities are subject to the relevant data protection regulations."

Read more: Opinion: Germany should not look to the US for campaign tips

The FDP chimed in, claiming that it only used anonymized data in its election campaign. The FDP politician Marco Buschmann said on Facebook that the data the party bought from Deutsche Post "merely indicates a probability where we might find a voter leaning towards the FDP."

Microtargeting restricted

The practice of buying data to customize election campaigns is not new, but the practice of microtargeting, in which data is mined to target individuals, is restricted in Germany due to strict EU privacy regulations.

Parties have, however, targeted certain groups; the CDU's conservative sister party, the CSU, has reached out to the mostly conservative Russian community in Germany and the FDP tried to appeal to voters who use Netflix with a special ad campaign.

Following the data scandal involving Facebook and UK firm Cambridge Analytica, Hamburg's data protection officer, Johannes Caspar, said the "use of microtargeting for election campaign purposes, both offline and online" had to be re-evaluated as political parties "are surely not meant to manipulate voters" by intransparent means.

ng/msh (AFP, Reuters, dpa)

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