Stories started appearing roughly two weeks ago that a couple of scientists from MIT had developed a “super PAC app”.
Super PAC App, the brainchild of Jennifer Hollett, M.C./M.P.A. ’12, and her MIT classmate Dan Siegel, gives voters information about the big money behind presidential campaign ads with just a single touch on an iPhone. By recording a snippet of audio from a television ad as it plays, a user can see who paid for the ad, how much money that political group has raised and spent so far, and how truthful the claims in the ad are (via links to outside, nonpartisan news sources). “We want to educate and engage the average voter,” Hollett said. “We hope it’ll make people, instead of shutting off the TV, figure out what’s going on.”
Credit must be given to the creators of this ingenious piece of technology, created with the help of a developer called TuneSat. The app is much like the popular Shazam, using “audio fingerprints” that immediately provide the user with search results of the name and performer of a song they may hear over the speakers at a coffee shop or club. Except in the case of the super PAC app, the device is pointed at a TV.
Lifehacker, a nifty site that offers tips and tricks on how to integrate technology into everyday life, mentions that the app pulls its fact-checking data (a somewhat dirty expression lately) from internet sources dedicated to that kind of work:
As far as the fact checking itself is concerned, Super PAC App pulls its data from different sources, including FactCheck and PolitiFact. According to the app FAQ, the goal is to provide transparency for ads, and regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, Super PAC App can be useful for you. Super PAC App is a free download in the iTunes App Store.
While the technology itself is remarkable and useful, the goal of the designers is a bit befuddling. Designer Dan Siegel told CNN (as reported by Business Insider) the following:
“Because of the Citizens United decision, that Supreme Court decision, super PACs can exist,” Siegel told CNN, explaining why they created the app. “And what it means is that anyone who’s willing and able to write a check can have a voice in this election. And by anyone, that is a union, that is an individual, that is a company. And they can do so to an unlimited degree.”
He says that “anyone who’s willing and able to write a check can have a voice in this election” like it’s a bad thing…
