The Koch Brothers' $50 Million Political Research Firm Knows What Type Of Car You Drive

Conservative megadonors Charles and David Koch have reportedly invested massive amounts of money into a company that's developing complex profiles of 250 million American voters and their consumer habits.

According to Politico, the billionaire brothers and their allies have already spent at least $50 million on the effort, which is being spearheaded by a data firm called i360, over the last four years.

The firm connects voter information with consumer data from credit bureaus, social networks, interactions with political campaigns, estimated income, recent home addresses, voting frequency, TV viewing habits, and "even the brand of car they drive," the report said.

The Koch brothers, are among the most prominent donors in American politics. Funneling much of their money through so-called Super PACs and other advocacy groups, the two owners of Koch Industries have become a focal point for left-leaning activists and politicans critical of outside spending in elections.

According to Politico, the new i360 operation even rivals the data arm of the national Republican Party.

"The Koch network also has developed in-house expertise in polling, message-testing, fact-checking, advertising, media buying, dial groups and donor maintenance," wrote Politico reporters Mike Allen and Kenneth Vogel. "Add mastery of election law, a corporate-minded aggressiveness and years of patient experimentation - plus seemingly limitless cash - and the Koch operation actually exceeds the RNC's data operation in many important respects."

A top Republican involved in presidential races told Politico the Koch operations "are the most important nonparty political players in the U.S. today, and no one else is even close."

However, the founder of i360, Michael Palmer, said the firm's impact won't necessarily be felt in the 2016 presidential race.

"Right now, we're talking about and building things that you won't see in 2016, because it's not going to be ready until 2018," Palmer said.

Click here to view the full report on Politico.