The scandal surrounding Cambridge Analytica that broke on
17 March 2018 was a watershed moment. For many voters,
it created a unique insight into how their data was being traded
and utilised to target them for political influence: voters real-
ised the effects the technologies were having on them.
Despite widespread global attention, there is still very little
known about the techniques that are applied to sway citizens’
political views by leveraging the data they give away. While
much of the media coverage focused on Cambridge Analytica’s
use of psychometric profiling, this was not the only technique
they used; in fact, there were many. Furthermore, as their staff
took the stand in a series of enquiries by the UK parliament,
they pointed out that these methods were fairly commonplace
within a vast industry of influence.2 Beyond 2018, understand-
ing this industry and how it works is essential for deciding how
the industry should be regulated and learning how effective its
techniques really are.