Political Microtargeting: A Mixed Method Study in a Multi-Party System

This study investigates political microtargeting in a multi-party context, more specifically, in a Swedish setting. By utilizing a mixed-method approach, the objective of the study is twofold. Firstly, interviewing researchers and political parties regarding their perception of microtargeting to generate a holistic view around the technology and its utilization. Secondly, implementing a survey with the intention to understand the public opinion concerning microtargeting. The results have been contrasted with an extensive literature review regarding the phenome-non. Through the literature review, several aspects that may possibly affect the applicability of microtargeting were identified. These aspects were included in a conceptual framework that operates as an analysis tool for the study. The findings indicate that a multi-party system and legal restriction does not inhibit the utilization of microtargeting as prior literature suggests. The result further displays that other regulations in Sweden enable an effective data gathering process. However, the public perception of microtargeting is somewhat problematic from a user standpoint – for instance, a fear of filter bubbles in terms of skewing the user’s perception of a certain topic is identified. Furthermore, there is no inclination to change online behaviour, more specifically, to trade convenience over privacy

E-legitimationsbedrägerier: Balansgången mellan förtroende och vilseledning

Studien omfattar bedrägerier som utförs via den svenska e-legitimationen BankID. Konceptet social engineering presenteras i denna studie och används som en förklaringsmodell för att kunna utforska huruvida BankID-bedrägerierna faller inom ramen för SE. Vidare diskuteras ett antal mänskliga faktorer som har en påverkan i dessa sammanhang, vilka är målgrupp, medvetenhet och tillit. Genom en intervjustudie ställs det som presenteras i litteraturgenomgången mot respondenternas svar. Respondenterna arbetar inom IT-säkerhetsbranschen och Polismyndigheten, och ger i intervjustudien sin syn på problematiken gällande bedrägerier och BankID. Studien identifierar medvetenhet hos användare som den största bristen i samspelet mellan användaren och teknologin. Avslutningsvis föreslås ett antal förbättringsmöjligheter för att höja säkerhetsnivån och förhindra BankID-bedragarna.The study covers fraud that is carried out via the Swedish e-ID BankID. The concept of social engineering is presented in this study and is used as an explanatory model to investigate whether the BankID fraud falls within the scope of SE. Furthermore, several human factors such as target group, awareness and trust are discussed to understand what type of impact they have in this context. An interview study has been implemented with respondents that work within the IT security industry and the Police Authority. They gave their understanding and views regarding the problems with fraud and BankID. The study identifies lack of awareness among users as the biggest problem when it comes to the interaction between users and technology. Finally, several improvement possibilities are proposed to raise the level of security and prevent the BankID fraudsters