Senior Conservative party officials worked on plans to hand over its entire membership database for a commercial venture that promised to make tens of

Tories planned to make millions from members’ data with ‘True Blue’ app

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2024-04-04 12:00:11

Senior Conservative party officials worked on plans to hand over its entire membership database for a commercial venture that promised to make tens of millions of pounds, the Guardian can reveal.

Leaked documents show Tory executives discussed exploiting members’ personal data to build a mobile phone app that could track users’ locations and allow big brands to advertise to Conservative supporters. The party would take a cut of sales.

The project was considered over several months last year, with the aim of launching the “True Blue” app in time for the party’s conference in October.

The idea was developed by the boss of a cryptocurrency firm with a string of failed businesses behind him. Yet senior Conservative officials appeared so captivated by the plan that they prepared to provide the party’s database of members in order to move the proposal forward.

The True Blue project aimed to provide the party with direct access to its members in order to “boost donations” through digital payments, design “bespoke messaging” based on demographics, and “maximise” voter turnout by directing members to polling stations and issuing a voter identity card.