The RNC Files: Inside the Largest US Voter Data Leak

In what is the largest known data exposure of its kind, UpGuard’s Cyber Risk Team can now confirm that a misconfigured database containing the sensitive personal details of over 198 million American voters was left exposed to the internet by a firm working on behalf of the Republican National Committee (RNC) in their efforts to elect Donald Trump. The data, which was stored in a publicly accessible cloud server owned by Republican data firm Deep Root Analytics, included 1.1 terabytes of entirely unsecured personal information compiled by DRA and at least two other Republican contractors, TargetPoint Consulting, Inc. and Data Trust. In total, the personal information of potentially near all of America’s 200 million registered voters was exposed, including names, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, and voter registration details, as well as data described as “modeled” voter ethnicities and religions.

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"RNCID", "RNC_RegID", "State", "SOURCEID", "Juriscode", "Jurisname", "CountyFIPS", "MCD", "CNTY", "Town", "Ward", "Precinct", "Ballotbox", "PrecinctName", "CD_Current", "CD_NextElection", "SD_Current", "SDProper_Current", "SD_NextElection", "SDProper_NextElection", "LD_Current", "LDS_Current", "LDProper_Current", "LD_NextElection", "LDS_NextElection", "LDProper_NextElection", "NamePrefix", "FirstName", "MiddleName", "LastName", "NameSuffix", "Sex", "BirthYear", "BirthMonth", "BirthDay", "OfficialParty", "StateCalcParty", "RNCCalcParty", "StateVoterID", "JurisdictionVoterID", "AffidavitID", "LegacyID", "LastActiveDate", "RegistrationDate", "VoterStatus", "PermAbs", "SelfReportedDemographic", "ModeledEthnicity", "ModeledReligion", "ModeledEthnicGroup", "HHSEQ", "HTSEQ", "RegistrationAddr1", "RegistrationAddr2", "RegHouseNum", "RegHouseSfx", "RegStPrefix", "RegStName", "RegStType", "RegstPost", "RegUnitType", "RegUnitNumber", "RegCity", "RegSta", "RegZip5", "RegZip4", "RegLatitude", "RegLongitude", "RegGeocodeLevel", "RADR_LastCleanse", "RADR_LastGeoCode", "RADR_LastCOA", "ChangeOfAddress", "COADate", "COAType", "MailingAddr1", "MailingAddr2", "MailHouseNum", "MailHouseSfx", "MailStPrefix", "MailStName", "MailStType", "MailStPost", "MailUnitType", "MailUnitNumber", "MailCity", "MailSta", "MailZip5", "MailZip4", "MailSortCodeRoute", "MailDeliveryPt", "MailDeliveryPtChkDigit", "MailLineOfTravel", "MailLineOfTravelOrder", "MailDPVStatus", "MADR_LastCleanse", "MADR_LastCOA", "AreaCode", "TelephoneNUm", "TelSourceCode", "TelMatchLevel", "TelReliability", "FTC_DoNotCall", "PhoneAppendDate", "VH12G", "VH12P", "VH12PP", "VH11G", "VH11P", "VH10G", "VH10P", "VH09G", "VH09P", "VH08G", "VH08P", "VH08PP", "VH07G", "VH07P", "VH06G", "VH06P", "VH05G", "VH05P", "VH04G", "VH04P", "VH04PP", "VH03G", "VH03P", "VH02G", "VH02P", "MT10_Party", "MT10_GenericBallot", "MT10_Turnout", "MT10_ObamaDisapproval", "MT10_Jobs", "MT10_Healthcare", "MT10_SoCo", "PG01", "PG02", "PG03", "PG04", "PG05", "PG06", "PG07", "PG08", "PG09", "PG10", "PG11", "PG12", "PG13", "PG14", "PG15", "PG16", "PG17", "PG18", "PG19", "PG20", "PG21", "PG22", "PG23", "PG24", "PG25", "PG26", "PG27", "PG28", "PG29", "PG30", "PG31", "PG32", "PG33", "PG34", "PG35", "PG36", "PG37", "PG38", "PG39"

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The remaining files provide a rare glimpse into a systematic large-scale analytics operation being performed using a massive repository of 198 million potential voters, combining personal details, backgrounds, and political behavior to, paraphrasing Gage, “unravel their political DNA”. The result is a database of grand scope and scale, collecting the modeled personal and political preferences of most of the country—adding up to an unsecured political treasure trove of data which was free to download online.

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In the 50 GB file titled “DRA Post Elect 2016 All Scores 1-12-17.yxdb,” each potential voter is scored with a decimal fraction between zero and one across forty-six columns. Each of the fields under each of the forty-six columns signifies the potential voter’s modeled likelihood of supporting the policy, political candidate, or belief listed at the top of the column, with zero indicating very unlikely, and one indicating very likely.



RNC_RegID, State, 2012ObamaVoter_DRA_12_16, 2012RomneyVoter_DRA_12_16, 2016ClintonVoter_DRA_12_16, 2016TrumpVoter_DRA_12_16, AmericaFirstForeignPolicy_agree_DRA_12_16 AmericaFirstForeignPolicy_disagree_DRA_12_16 AutoCompaniesShipJobsOverseas_agree_DRA_12_16 AutoCompaniesShipJobsOverseas_disagree_DRA_12_16 CorpReputs_AmericanMakers_DRA_12_16, CorpReputs_DailyLives_DRA_12_16, CorpReputs_Egalitarians_DRA_12_16, CorpReputs_EnviroConscious_DRA_12_16, CorpReputs_OpportunitySeekers_DRA_12_16, CorpReputs_STEMSupporters_DRA_12_16, CorpReputs_SupplyChainers_DRA_12_16, CorpReputs_Unifers_DRA_12_16, DemLeadersStandUpToTrump_DRA_12_16, DemLeadersWorkWithTrump_DRA_12_16, DParty_DRA_12_16, FinancialServicesHarmful_agree_DRA_12_16 FinancialServicesHarmful_disagree_DRA_12_16 FinServicesCompany_Dreamers_DRA_12_16 FinServicesCompany_RiskMitigators_DRA_12_16 FossilFuelsImportantForUSEnergySecurity_DRA_12_16 FossilFuelsNeedToMoveAwayFrom_DRA_12_16, InvestInfrastructure_agree_DRA_12_16, InvestInfrastructure_disagree_DRA_12_16, LowerTaxes_agree_DRA_12_16, LowerTaxes_disagree_DRA_12_16, NonReluctantDJTVoter_DRA_12_16, NonReluctantHRCVoter_DRA_12_16, PharmaCompsDoGreatDamage_agree_DRA_12_16, PharmaCompsDoGreatDamage_disagree_DRA_12_16, ReformGovtRegulations_agree_DRA_12_16, ReformGovtRegulations_disagree_DRA_12_16, ReluctantDJT_Above.5_DRA_12_16, ReluctantHRCVoter_DRA_12_16, RepealObamacare_agree_DRA_12_16, RepealObamacare_disagree_DRA_12_16 RParty_DRA_12_16, StopIllegalImmigration_agree_DRA_12_16, StopIllegalImmigration_disagree_DRA_12_16, TrumpStandUpToDems_DRA_12_16, TrumpWorkWithDems_DRA_12_16, USAFinancialSituation_Optimistic_DRA_12_16, USAFinancialSituation_Pessimistic_DRA_12_16

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Calculated for 198 million potential voters, this adds up to a spreadsheet of 9.5 billion modeled probabilities, for questions ranging from how likely it is the individual voted for Obama in 2012, to whether they agree with the Trump foreign policy of “America First,” to how likely they are to be concerned with auto manufacturing as an issue, among others.

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