The team at Cherry Digital were asked to put together an eye catching and relevant digital marketing campaign for security review website SecurityBaron.com. The main focus of the pr campaign is on the presidential candidates and their policies on cybersecurity and data privacy. They also put together an interactive infographic to boost the backlinks and SEO for their website which gives a breakdown of each candidate and their policies.
You can read the press release from our online marketing campaign below:
Putin Up a Fight: Klobucher ranked as America’s strongest candidate to protect us from cyber attacks
Russia’s hacking of the 2016 Presidential election, Facebook’s grilling in Congress over data privacy issues and subsequent calls to break up Silicon Valley’s monopolies has drawn into sharp focus how technology has influenced politics over the last 4 years. As many politicians and pundits have stated that this year’s election will be the most important in our history, SecurityBaron.com, the leading security review website, has investigated each candidate’s positions on topics such as antitrust matters, data privacy laws as well as national cybersecurity to try and determine how America’s future might be shaped depending on who ultimately wins in 2020.
Cybersecurity
Perhaps the most contentious issue, America’s vulnerability to cyber attacks was exposed prior to the 2016 election, when Russian hackers managed to access DNC servers and subsequently released emails via Wikileaks. Despite fears that when President Trump took the oath of office he would scrap policies protecting government and industry from cyberattacks, the government’s efforts in this area have been described as a continuation from the Obama era. Although critics lament how Trump suggests that Russia was not responsible, and that Ukraine or even a 400-pound lone hacker could have carried out the attack, the administration has mostly continued and improved policies by previous administrations. In fact, one significant shift away from the Obama era, and which has been praised by cybersecurity experts, has been the adoption of a more offensive stance – that is – attacking other nations’ security systems.
So how do President Trump’s political opponents rank when it comes to protecting America from foreign cyber attacks? SecurityBaron.com’s ranking established that Senator Amy Klobuchar leads out of all candidates (including the President) when it comes to cybersecurity. In 2017, she introduced the “Helping State and Local Governments Prevent Cyber Attacks Act,” which would have provided state and local governments with resources and information to keep elections secure.
“Free and fair elections have become targets for adversaries looking to subvert our democracy… According to the Department of Homeland Security, in the last election, as many as 21 states may have been hit by Russian hackers. State and local election officials must have the tools and resources they need to prevent these attacks and ensure that future elections are safeguarded from foreign interference.”
And in In 2019, Klobuchar wrote a letter expressing concern about security breaches during the January 2019 government shutdown.
Bernie Sanders ranks in 2nd place. Sanders wants to pass more cybersecurity legislation to prevent cyber attacks on privately owned utilities, power grids and weapons systems. In the Presidential Policy Directive 21, he identifies 16 critical infrastructure sectors that would be very detrimental to society if they were destroyed or disrupted.
He also voted for the Cybersecurity Act of 2012, and said that he wants to mandate paper ballots to improve election security.
“Our nation’s national security and economy face unprecedented threats from cyber-attacks, and it is important that we defend ourselves as best we can while, at the same time, protecting the privacy and civil liberties of the American people.”
Tulsi Gabbard, the outside candidate and Congresswoman for Hawaii, ranks in the top 3 based on her record for cybersecurity. Gabbard supported the National Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, which protected the United States from cyber attacks, and wants to mandate paper ballots for elections.
Data Privacy
In the past few years, the United States has seen a plethora of security breaches from large tech companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, and more. Given his technology background, it was unsurprising that tech entrepreneur, Andrew Yang, ranked no1 by SecurityBaron.com, when it comes to data privacy. In fact, data privacy is one of the larger issues in Yang’s 2020 campaign. He believes that data should be treated as a property right. Under his plan, individuals would own their data and would have rights to know how it’s used and protected. Companies would need to get an opt-in from the user before collecting any data, clearly stating what data they’re collecting and how it will be used. Yang believes that if your data generates money for a company, you should get a cut.
Another of the young candidates, Mayor Pete Buttigieg ranks in 2nd place, mostly for his support for a national “right to be forgotten” law, where you can have platforms remove you from search results and delete your data. He says he wants a policy like the General Data Protection Regulation in Europe that would clarify who owns data, among other things.
And ranking again in the top 3 is Bernie Sanders. He is quoted as saying: “My Internet privacy policy is simple: Our information belongs to us, not corporations like Comcast and Verizon. Comcast and Verizon should not be able to track their customers and sell their personal information without the customers’ permission. This is not a radical idea. This is just common sense.”
Tech Monopolies
Many people believe that large tech companies have become monopolies, limiting competition and breaking anti-trust laws. Bernie Sanders ranks 1st in this issue by SecurityBaron.com. He has said he would like to break up Facebook, Google and Amazon. On Facebook specifically, Sanders said it has “incredible power over the economy, over the political life of this country in a very dangerous sense”. He believes Amazon is “moving very rapidly to be a monopoly.”
Sanders also thinks that these monopolies are threatening journalistic integrity, as Facebook and Google own 60% of the digital advertising market, using “monopolistic control to siphon off advertising revenues from news organizations”.
He wants to apply antitrust laws “to prevent them from using their enormous market power to cannibalize, bilk, and defund news organizations. Their monopoly power has particularly harmed small, independent news outlets that do not have the corporate infrastructure to fight back.”
Amy Klobuchar has been outspoken about the monopoly problem in the United States not only in the tech industry, but also in the pharmaceutical industry. For this reason, she ranks in 2nd place on her stance on tech monopolies. She wants to increase fees for mega-mergers to fund the FTC and the Justice Department. She’s also expressed interest in investigating Facebook. She is quoted as saying: “We’re going to reduce competition and hurt capitalism if we don’t do something about this spreading problem of monopolies.”
Aside from publicly stating that Facebook and Google have monopolistic power, Tulsi Gabbard has actually sued Google for suspending her campaign ads.
“[Big tech’s dominance over public discourse] threatens our core American values. This is a threat to free speech, fair elections, and to our democracy, and I intended to fight back on behalf of all Americans.” She ranks in 3rd place on this issue.
The Overall Rankings
The question remains, which candidate has the strongest credentials overall when it comes to all things tech? It is revealed that Bernie Sanders is the most comprehensive candidate when it comes to cybersecurity, data privacy and tech monopolies. His number 1 ranking is mainly influenced by his outspoken position against large tech companies, criticizing their monopolistic power and use of customer data, a hot-button issue affecting millions of Americans.
Next, the most comprehensive candidates when it comes to technology are Amy Klobchar, Andrew Yang, Cory Booker and Tulsi Gabbard. Democratic candidates, they all support paper ballots, more cybersecurity to guard against cyber attacks from foreign countries, and more regulation of tech companies in terms of antitrust legislation and data protection. However, Yang is the only candidate of the four to espouse a system in which people would own and be compensated for their data. Moreover, he’s the only candidate that has said that if companies profit off of customer data, the customer should get a cut.
While Elizabeth Warren has dealt with many security breaches in her career as Senator and been outspoken about tech monopolies, she hasn’t addressed cyber attacks from foreign nations, making her fall in the rankings.
The next candidate that’s garnered the most attention in this election is Pete Buttigieg, who supports a policy like Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation to protect consumer data. He’s also spoken about the outsize influence of large tech companies and their monopolistic power, despite the fact that the Washington Post called him a “Silicon Valley darling” for his support from people working in tech.
Donald Trump, our current President, has indicted countries like China, Iran, Russia and North Korea for their cyber attacks. However, he wavers when it comes to Russia, which was involved in the 2016 election that made him president. While he has discussed the creation of federal online privacy laws, none have been established. In contrast, he signed a bill that allows Internet Service Providers to sell user data, rolling back Obama’s online privacy laws. Trump also supports breaking up large tech monopolies, which he believes the United States can benefit from financially.
Joe Biden, Michael Bloomberg, Marianne Williamson and Deval Patrick have said little to nothing about tech issues like monopolies, privacy and cybersecurity, and therefore rank bottom.
1. Bernie Sanders
2. Amy Klobuchar
3. Andrew Yang
4. Cory Booker
5. Tulsi Gabbard
6. Elizabeth Warren
7. Michael Bennet
8. Tom Steyer
9. John Delaney
10. Pete Buttigieg
11. Donald Trump
12. Joe Biden
13. Michael Bloomberg
14. Marianne Williamson
15. Deval Patrick
SecurityBaron.com has created an infographic with more information about each candidates’ positions and history on tech, as well as how much campaign finance they have received from tech companies: https://securitybaron.com/presidential-candidates-tech-policy-stances
“This could be a defining election in terms of technology, depending on who ends up winning,” says Gabe Turner of SecurityBaron.com. “If one of the more progressive candidates wins (when it comes to tech), it could lead to the break-up of monopolies and put the consumer more in control of their data.”