So Once They Have My Number What Can I Do
Not much.
Beans says data is mined by campaigns in different ways. They do get numbers from voter rolls, but it is possible they use master-grabbing tools known as scrapers off of websites, among other methods.
If youve ever made an online purchase and provided a cellphone number with your order, thats another way information is collected.
Its difficult to keep personal information private. First, read the terms and conditions for websites to see if your info will be sold to third-party companies. Consumers have to be vigilant. Its hard to do, says Beans.
Text Messages Suggest Donald Trump Looked Into Funding The Controversial Arizona Election Audit
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New text messages suggest Donald Trump was interested in donating to the Arizona election audit.
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Ex-Trump campaign official Jeff DeWit reportedly inquired about donating to two “dark money” funds.
Newly-released text messages between a Trump campaign official and the spokesman for the controversial Arizona Senate election audit suggest former President Donald Trump was looking to help fund the very recount his supporters hoped would help overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
In an April text exchange reviewed by The Arizona Capitol Times, former Trump campaign official Jeff DeWit and audit spokesperson Randy Pullen discussed possible contributions by Trump to the audit effort.
According to the outlet, DeWit offered to send $175,000 to a so-called “dark money” fund called the Guardian Defense Fund, where Pullen also served as treasurer, and later inquired about contributing on behalf of Trump to another group called Fund the Audit by the America Project.
“So are they ok to donate to? Trump asking,” DeWit reportedly texted Pullen about Fund the Audit on April 28.
It is unclear if Trump ended up contributing to the audit effort.
A representative for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
When reached for comment by the Capitol Times on Tuesday, DeWit initially declined to comment on the record.
Texting Has Become A Cheap And Easy Way For Political Campaigns To Reach Out To Voters But Not Everyone’s Happy About It
Sometimes, Melissa Michelson feels like she has created a monster when she hears from voters in the 2020 election.
“When they mention how many texts they get, I say, ‘I am so sorry I feel personally responsible,’ ” says Michelson, a political science professor at Menlo College in California.
More than a decade ago, Michelson conducted an experiment to see if text messages could be used to increase voter participation in San Mateo County in California.
The experiment was a big success, and, thanks in part to research by Michelson and others, text messages are now widely used by campaigns to reach out to supporters, get out the vote and raise money.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, for example, was an early and fervid fan of texting, using a small army of volunteers to personally send messages to supporters during this year’s presidential campaign.
While Republicans were slow to jump on the texting bandwagon, they have more than made up for it this year. The Trump campaign alone has said it will have sent out more than a billion text messages to supporters by Election Day.
“We look back, I think, at the 2016 election and call it the social media election. I think after 2020 people are going to look back and say this was the texting election,” says Thomas Peters, founder and chief executive of RumbleUp, a texting platform for Republicans.
Not only is texting cheap and easy to use, it’s much better than other forms of communication at grabbing voters’ attention, he says.
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Heres How Challenging It Was To Find Strzoks Well Stop Trump Text Message
Chuck Ross on June 18, 2018
The Department of Justices inspector general said Monday that his investigators went to extensive lengths to obtain a text message in which former FBI official Peter Strzok suggested that he planned to help prevent President Donald Trump from becoming president.
Michael Horowitz, the head of the DOJs office of inspector general , said that his cyber forensics team took four separate investigative steps before discovering a controversial Aug. 8, 2016 text message that Strzok sent to former FBI attorney Lisa Page.
The forensic team went as far as contacting the Pentagon for help in extracting text messages that were missing from Strzok and Pages FBI-issued cell phones.
The text message in question was recovered early last month and first publicized on Friday in a report that the OIG released on the FBIs investigation into Hillary Clintons email practices. not ever going to become president, right? Right?! Page, the FBI lawyer, wrote to Strzok.
No. No hes not. Well stop it, replied Strzok, who served as the FBIs top investigator on Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaigns possible ties to Russia.
The investigation started days before the text message, on July 31, 2016.
Strzoks response to Page is conspicuously absent from previous batches of text messages given to Congress. Pages question to Strzok was included in those earlier releases.
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But Didn’t The Trump Campaign Say It Was In Compliance With The Tcpa And Fcc Guidelines
Yes, and that’s accurate. But that’s largely because the legal guidelines around these kinds of P2P text messages aren’t clear.
The TCPA and FCC have rules about abuse on autodialer systems that can automatically send messages or make phone calls. But there isn’t any guidance on these systems because they’re run by humans.
The CTIA’s statement about requiring opt-out language and prior consent are part of recommended guidelines to the industry for players like the carriers and senders like political campaigns. But the trade group has no ability to enforce these guidelines, which are more like mutually agreed upon practices than firm laws.
An upcoming may offer some guidance on the legal definition of phone spam.
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Whats Behind The Flood Of Political Texts Blowing Up Voters Phones This Year
After studies a decade ago revealed texts were effective at motivating voter behavior, the floodgates were opened.
Municipal elections are often relatively quiet, low-turnout affairs. But a number of contentious issues in the Twin Cities from the Minneapolis mayors race to a public safety ballot measure to rent control in Minneapolis and St. Paul seem to be turning up the heat this year.
That means many potential voters are getting a barrage of texts often unsolicited from candidates and from groups seeking to influence voters. They often read something like: Hi so-and-so, this is Sally. Im a volunteer for . Early voting has started. Can count on your vote?
Why are these people blowing up your phone? How did they get your number? And is there any way to make it stop?
The floodgates
Political text messages are nothing new, and theres a simple reason for that: they work. The first studies on the vote-mobilizing effects of text messages in elections came out more than a decade ago. The studies found that people who opted in to texts reminding them to vote actually were more likely to vote after getting the reminder, said Melissa Michelson, a professor of political science at Menlo College in Atherton, California.
The person behind the texts
So is it actually a person sending the text messages youre getting from these campaigns?
But how do they know who to text?
Phone lists
Getting out the text
Make it stop
How To Stop Political Calls And Text Messages
First it was unwanted calls, then emails. Now, unsolicited political text messages are driving voters crazy this election year. The good news is that there are easy ways to stop them.
You might be receiving political messages at all hours of the day, urging you to help turn the country red or blue and to vote for Joe Biden or President Donald Trump.
The worst is when these texts distract you from something you should be focusing on, such as cooking dinner or driving.
How do they even get your number? Typically, from your voter records, according to RoboKiller, an app that blocks both spam phone calls and texts.
“When you register to vote, your voter file is public record,” Giulia Porter of RoboKiller explained. “Usually you provide your phone number, and it is available to campaigns.”
RoboKiller predicts various campaigns will send almost 3 billion text messages to voters this fall.
Simple ways to stop political texts
Porter says the easiest solution is to text the word “stop“ back to the sender, assuming it is not a scammer.
“So it is OK if you feel this is is a real political campaign,” Porter said. “Then, reply and ask to be removed from the list.”
Legitimate campaigns have agreed to remove anyone who asks to be taken off their calling or texting lists.
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How Big Of A Problem Is Spam On Text Messages
Unlike robocalls, which have grown to be a scourge upon essentially everyone, spam text messages are far less of a problem. The CTIA estimates that about 3% of all text messages are spam, compared with nearly half of all e-mails.
That’s largely why campaign text messages seem more legit — there’s less of a stigma around spam in this area.
Block Political Texts And Ads On Your Phone Here’s How
With Election Day in three weeks, your phone could see a surge of political texts. We tell you how to make them stop.
Stop unwanted text messages on your phone.
Election Day is 22 days away and political ads are bombarding your , mailbox and now your text message inbox. Unfortunately, there isn’t a Do Not Text registry that applies to texting the same way it does to phone calls. There is, however, still a way you can attempt to stop political ads from swarming your phone.
If you’re wondering how the organization got your number in the first place, it’s because all states allow access to voter data for election purposes — so if you’re a registered voter, your information is on file.
Here’s how to stop the unwanted political texts.
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How Do I Stop Getting All Those Political Text Messages
Americans will receive more than three billion political text messages this year, research shows. Consumer reporter John Matarese shows us some easy ways to stop them.
BEGIN WITH AND THERE ARE > > > WE ARE JUST SIX DAYS AWAY FROM ELECTION DAY. YOU CAN BET CANDIDATES AND THEIR CAMPAIGN TEAMS ARE TRYING TO REACH VOTERS ANYWAY THEY CAN. > > AMERICANS HAVE RECEIVED MORE THAN 3 BILLION POLITICAL TEXT MESSAGES THIS YEAR. HERE ARE SOME EASY WAYS TO MAKE THEM STOP. > > FIRST, IT WAS UNWANTED CALLS , EMAILS, NOW TEXT MESSAGES THAT ARE DRIVING NORTH CAROLINA VOTERS CRAZY THIS ELECTION YEAR, BUT THERE ARE WAYS TO STOP THEM. THEY POP UP AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY, POLITICAL TEXT MESSAGES URGING THE COUNTRY TO BE TURNED RED OR BLUE. > > I’VE GOT A LOT OF STRANGE TEXT MESSAGES. > > THE WORST IS WHEN THE TEXT DISTRACT YOU FROM SOMETHING YOU SHOULD BE FOCUSING ON SUCH AS COOKING DINNER OR DRIVING. > > HOW DID THEY GET YOUR NUMBER? USUALLY FROM YOUR VOTER RECORDS. YOUR PHONE NUMBER IS ACCESSIBLE TO CAMPAIGNERS. > > JULIA PORTER IS WITH AN APP THAT BLOCKS SPAM PHONE CALLS AND TEXTS. SHE SAYS THE EASIEST SOLUTION IS TO TEXT THE WORD STOP BACK TO THE SENDER ASSUMING THIS IS NOT A SCAMMER. > > IN THE MEANTIME, IPHONES HAVING ALMOST SECRET TEXT BLOCKING FEATURE. GO TO SETTINGS MESSAGES, INTERNAL FILTER, UNKNOWN SENDERS. > > IF YOU GET PHONE CALLS CONSIDER AN APP LIKE ROBLE KILLERS. THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU CAN STOP THEM. > > THESE DAYS, YOU ARE NOT
Trump Chose You His Most Patriotic Supporter To Receive Constant Scammy Texts
CONFIDENTIAL: DONT SHARE, the Trump campaign texted me last month. Pres. Trump requested your input on some key issues. Well send your answers to his desk in 1 HOUR.
Take Survey NOW, the text continued, linking to a survey with questions like:
As of today, who will you vote for in 2020?
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President Trump
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A Socialist Fraud
When I completed the survey, I was directed to a page asking me to donate between $42 and $2,800.
The Trump campaign sends multiple texts like these every day to me and millions of Americans whose numbers have ended up in the campaigns database often without the consent of the recipient.
Some of the texts are designed to make you feel special, like an extra-patriotic member of an exclusive club. Theyll dangle offers of signed MAGA hats or fancy dinners with the president, which no one appears to have ever won. LAST DAY to accept your personal invitation to dinner with Pres. Trump in New York, one campaign text advertised. Hes waiting on your response, Jessica. Donate & WIN.
For people who arent motivated by gimmicky contests, the campaign also utilizes shame: Pres Trump noticed you ignored his text, Jessica. Your names still MISSING on the End of Month list. Donate in NEXT HOUR for a 6X-MATCH.
The texts are easy to mock especially the ones featuring failson Donald Trump Jr. pleading for money on behalf of his father.
Its the last spam-free inbox, Rory McShane, a Republican political consultant, said in a March interview.
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Are P2p Text Messages Legal
P2P texting is a gray area in the Federal Communications Commissions Telephone Consumer Protection Act , which was passed in 1991 to protect consumers from unwanted, nuisance emails, telephone calls and texts.
The FCC declined to comment on whether the practice is legal, citing a pending petition filed in May by the P2P Alliance, a coalition of texting providers seeking clarification on the rules.
Even though campaigns are sending tens of thousands of texts an hour, they say they are not violating federal rules about bulk texting because texts are being sent one at a time by a person.
Thats because the FCC law specifically mentions automated telephone dialing systems used to make calls, send text messages and recorded voice calls known as robocalls.
The rules apply to political campaigns, but not if they are sent individually, experts say.
If a message was sent manually, it may be a nuisance, but its not a violation of the law, even if its from a complete stranger, says David Carter, a partner the TCPA Defense Force, a Washington, D.C., law firm.
Who sent texts supporting mayoral candidate in the middle of the night? It’s a mystery. »
