The Obama reelection team made an app, called “Obama for America”. This app can show you the party affiliation of your neighbours, their name, sex and age and their exact address. 

Here is an excerpt from an in-depth feature for the Financial Times called Inside Obama’s HQ: 

The sprawling, open-plan Chicago headquarters of the Obama campaign, and their small huddles of twentysomethings hunched around computer screens, look like an internet start-up for a reason. The traditional trappings of US presidential elections are still important stages from which to sway voters, from the razzle-dazzle of the conventions to the hard slog of daily rallies on the hustings and the endless rounds of fundraising dinners. But in the 21st century, campaigns can use technology to micro-target voters like never before.

“Big data are the story of this election – the whole political media ecology has changed,” says Andrew Rasiej, the founder of Personal Democracy Forum, who has advised numerous politicians on the use of technology. “The Obama campaign won’t admit to their real level of sophistication, because they have no reason to.”

They’re not kidding anymore with the kind of information they have in their hands. They won’t let it escape without careful observation.