Emulating a 2008 Obama campaign gimmick (which relied on the much simpler and less invasive text message), Team Romey’s announced a new smartphone app that will enable its lucky owner to become among the very first to read the exciting names of “Rob Portman” or “Tim Pawlenty” as the next vice president of the United States once the decision is released at some point in the next few weeks.
In return, the Romney campaign will get to go on a data harvesting expedition, according to The Hill‘s Justin Sink:
[D]epending on how the Romney app works, it could provide even more demographic information to the Romney campaign. Upon instillation, the application asks permission to access data about where a user is located, and urges supporters to log in using social networks like Twitter. That could allow the campaign large-scale data harvesting, an invaluable tool for campaign staff looking to tailor advertising and fundraising efforts.
But for Romney supporters, giving up some privacy is a small price to pay for the joy of that first, intense injection of pure vanilla goodness when the ticket that will take back America for its rightful owners becomes complete.
