In this explosive memoir, a political consultant and technology whistleblower reveals the disturbing truth about the multi-billion-dollar data industry, revealing to the public how companies are getting richer using our personal information and exposing how Cambridge Analytica exploited weaknesses in privacy laws to help elect Donald Trump. When Brittany Kaiser joined Cambridge Analytica – the UK-based political consulting firm funded by conservative billionaire and Donald Trump patron Robert Mercer – she was an idealistic young professional working on her fourth degree in human rights law and international relations. A veteran of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, Kaiser's goal was to utilize data for humanitarian purposes, most notably to prevent genocide and human rights abuses. But her experience inside Cambridge Analytica opened her eyes to the tremendous risks that this unregulated industry poses to privacy and democracy. Targeted is Kaiser's eyewitness chronicle of the dramatic and disturbing story of the rise and fall of Cambridge Analytica. She reveals to the public how Facebook's lax policies and lack of sufficient national laws allowed voters to be manipulated in both Britain and the United States, where personal data was weaponised to spread fake news and racist messaging during the Brexit vote and the 2016 election. But the damage isn't done Kaiser warns; the 2020 election can be compromised as well if we continue to do nothing. In the aftermath of the U.S. election, as she became aware of the horrifying reality of what Cambridge Analytica had done in support of Donald Trump, Kaiser made the difficult choice to expose the truth. Risking her career, relationships, and personal safety, she told authorities about the data industry's unethical business practices, eventually testifying before Parliament.

"2016 continues to be the most surreal and unpredictable election year in recent memory and this is due in large part to one Donald J. Trump and the millions of Americans who made him this year's Republican nominee for president. As Trump continues to succeed despite behavior that would cripple any other politician, whether it is questioning the patriotism of the Gold Star Khan family or banishing a baby from one of his press conferences, it is imperative to understand why so many continue to support him. And this is what makes The Gilded Rage so important; it provides insight into the forgotten Americans that continue to befuddle pundits and "experts" on CNN and FOX alike. This grippingly intimate and heart-breaking book provides a portrait of the walking wounded who make up the base of the Trump movement. Desperate and angry, these are the Americans of the vanishing industrial heartland, depressed Appalachian coal country, and the no-man's land along the Southwestern border. These are coal miners, out of work construction workers, and small business owners, who have watched their fortunes dwindle with each passing year. They have no illusions about the grandstanding billionaire and his glaring flaws. But these men and women feel forgotten and screwed over by political, corporate and media elites...and they feel that Donald Trump, despite his flamboyant demagoguery, might well be their last chance for salvation. Reminiscent of Studs Terkel's Working, with a dash of Hunter S. Thompson, Alexander Zaitchik in this important book takes us deeper into the ravaged soul of America than any other chronicler of our times. Selected as one of Publishers Weekly's Top Ten picks for Politics & Current Events of Fall 2016 Praise for Alexander Zaitchik's Common Sense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance: "A sharp and informative smackdown. For Zaitchik, [Glenn] Beck is just one more American con artist in the P.T. Barnum tradition, a shameless pseudoconservative bottom-feeder who will say anything to keep the spotlight on himself while the money rolls in." -Mark Lilla, The New York Review of Books "A sensational book; This is a beautifully written and insightful biography-thoughtful, considered, and very intentional about the need to understand Beck both as a symbol of something larger going on in America and as a person." -Susan Gardner, Daily Kos "A scathing profile that follows the powerful pundit from a single-parent home in rural Washington state to conservative superstardom." -The Boston Globe "A great political book. Zaitchik tells [Beck's story] well and nobody has told it more soberly." -Slate "An informative study." -Sean Wilentz, The New Yorker "A gripping and thoroughly researched biography." -Joe Conason, Salon"--