In seconds, we faked our way into a political campaign, got unsecured voter data

Enlarge / Volunteer Janice MacGurn sets up a polling station sign before opening on primary election day June 5, 2018 in San Diego, California. There are several highly competitive races throughout the state including those for governor and U.S. House and Senate seats. (credit: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, polls will be open to voters in eight states, including California, which holds gubernatorial primaries among many other national, state, and local elections.

Under California law (Section 2194 of the Election Code), voter data (name, address, phone, age, party affiliation) is supposed to be "confidential and shall not appear on any computer terminal... or other medium routinely available to the public."

However, there's a big exception to that law: this data can be made available to political campaigns, including companies that provide digital analysis services to campaigns. In other words, candidates and their contractors can get voter data, but there's little definition in the law about how those parties are required to be custodians of that data and how that data ought to be secured.

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