Elon Musk’s Pro-Trump Website Accused of Shady Data Collection

Elon Musk precocious launched a governmental enactment committee that’s moving ads connected Google successful an effort to enactment convicted felon Donald J. Trump backmost into the White House. And CNBC has a caller study astir the online tactics Musk’s America PAC is utilizing successful battleground states that volition find who wins successful November. It’s sketchy arsenic hell, to accidental the least.

One of the ads being tally by America PAC, disposable connected YouTube, depicts a antheral laying successful furniture watching the attempted assassination of Trump backmost connected July 13 astatine a rally successful Butler, Pennsylvania. The antheral appears to beryllium texting with a friend, sending the video of Trump getting changeable with a connection that confusingly reads, “This is retired of control!! How bash I start?”

The person connected the different extremity of the telephone replies with a text, “Register to vote! It’s easy!” on with a nexus to the America PAC website.

What happens if a existent idiosyncratic heads to the America PAC website and tries to vote? That each depends connected wherever that idiosyncratic lives, arsenic CNBC pointed retired connected Friday.

Anyone who clicks connected “Register to Vote” connected the America PAC website is greeted with a signifier with conscionable 2 inputs: email code and zip code. And depending connected what a idiosyncratic types successful for zip code, they’ll either beryllium taken to a nexus that conscionable redirects them to their state’s elector registration leafage oregon a caller signifier that collects a ton of backstage information.

Gizmodo tried it retired for ourselves, typing successful a zip codification for Southern California first, which simply directed america to a caller leafage that had a nexus to the authorities of California. But erstwhile we typed successful a zip codification for Wisconsin, 1 of the half-dozen oregon truthful states that Trump indispensable triumph to bushed presumed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, we were taken to a caller signifier that asked for our address, birthday, and telephone number, arsenic you tin spot successful the screenshot below.

Screenshot: America PAC

Strangely, aft filling each of that retired and clicking “proceed,” users spot a connection that reads: “Thank you for taking the archetypal measurement to registry to ballot successful WISCONSIN. Please implicit the signifier beneath and we volition assistance you implicit your registration.”

But determination is nary signifier beneath to “complete” your registration. This is each we saw portion trying retired the website connected Friday:

Screenshot: America PAC

Nothing. Nada. No mode to really registry to ballot successful Wisconsin, astatine slightest from this website. All we did was manus implicit accusation to Musk’s group. And that’s wherever it gets adjacent weirder, according to CNBC. Nobody knows for definite what Musk and his cronies volition bash with this information, but the harmless wealth appears to beryllium betting connected the thought that Musk volition assistance coordinate on-the-ground messaging campaigns for Trump supporters.

How is it ineligible for Musk’s radical to coordinate with the Trump run erstwhile predetermination instrumentality explicitly forbids ace PACs from coordinating with the idiosyncratic they’re trying to help? U.S. regulators with the Federal Election Commission recently ruled that door-to-door canvassing is exempt from the coordination ban. That means the Trump run tin chat with each these acheronian wealth groups and coordinate their messaging arsenic they propulsion to get Trump voters to the polls.

“Coordination is incredibly important: it ensures that the PAC’s activities are maximally beneficial to the campaign, and frees up the campaign’s ain funds for different uses,” Brendan Fischer, a run concern adept astatine the watchdog Documented told CNBC. “I fishy that the PAC’s quality to coordinate its data-driven canvassing activities with the Trump run made it precise appealing for donors.”

Trump and Harris are moving neck-and-neck successful the polls, a immense betterment for the Democrats since Biden was being outperformed by Trump for months. But it’s inactive a flip up and each past elector successful the plaything states is going to count. That’s wherefore Musk and his radical are intelligibly targeting those folks successful Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to marque definite that Trump and Trump-curious voters perceive their message.

Somewhat amusingly, an effort to interaction America PAC done the signifier connected its website was met with a connection that reads, “Your submission failed due to the fact that of an error.” But if you’re with America PAC and privation to speech with us, we’d emotion to perceive from you. Especially astir wherefore you’re trying to re-elect specified a racist portion of shit to the White House.