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Per video, CNN partners with Dataminr, a startup which mines data from twitter.

https://www.dataminr.com

http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/19/14310498/dataminr-twitter-news-tool-beacon-lobbying-foreign-surveillance

LEAKED EMAILS REVEAL HOW DATAMINR WAS PITCHED TO FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS

by Andrew Perez and Frank Bass Jan 19, 2017, 9:01am EST

In March 2015, Philippe Reines, a former aide to Hillary Clinton at the US State Department, reached out to an old colleague about his consulting firm’s client.

Reines contacted Capricia Marshall, a consultant who had been the US chief of protocol, a top State Department officer who acts as a liaison with foreign diplomats. Reines wanted Marshall to arrange meetings with foreign embassies for Dataminr — a company that has come under scrutiny from privacy experts for its service analyzing Twitter data.

“If you could pull this off, would be a great way to get you a solid ongoing retainer,” Reines wrote in an email. Marshall responded: “Talking to Azerbaijan. May then ask Saudi?”

“Azerbaijan would be AWESOME. I think Saudi is in its own category because they aren’t sure what the Saudis would do with it,” Reines wrote back. Referring to Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic accused of jailing journalists and online activists, Reines suggested using its territorial dispute with Armenia as leverage: “Pull out all the stops! Tell them if they don’t we’ll sell to the Armenians!”

Reines’ firm, Beacon Global Strategies, met with diplomats from Azerbaijan’s embassy, and quickly hired Marshall. A MapLight review of leaked emails found that Marshall arranged conversations between Dataminr and at least five embassies over three months.

The leaked emails shed light on the largely unregulated world of international lobbying in Washington, where “strategic advisors,” “consultants,” and lawyers use their US government experience to benefit clients and themselves, while avoiding public scrutiny both at home and overseas.

Beacon isn’t registered to lobby in Washington. The firm reportedly works for defense contractors and cybersecurity companies, but it hasn’t made its client list public, citing non-disclosure agreements. Beacon’s relationship with Dataminr has not been previously reported.

Emails show that Beacon offered Dataminr’s service to a foreign government in ways that suggest it could have been used for surveillance. A spokesperson for Dataminr told MapLight on Tuesday that the company “decided not to build or deploy the product capabilities” described by Beacon.

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