OFA, or Organizing For America, is back at it again. Invading the privacy of voters and not giving them a way to opt-out of receiving unwanted phone spam from neighbors.
I just received an email from David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager from 2008, asking me to sign up for hosting a Healthcare event in my community and phone banking from my home. It is easy. Just enter your zip code and "click here to get a list of phone numbers to call".
Guess who is on my call list? Jim VandeHei. Many of you may not immediately know his name. However, Jim is the editor of The Politico, one of the fastest growing and most powerful political websites and papers in the nation. (See below for a screen shot of his name in the OFA tool, Neighbor to Neighbor) Jim probably does not want me to call him. Ever.
Jim just happens to be one of my neighbors.
Unfortunately for Jim there is no way for him to opt-out of me calling him (and his wife, her name is there as well) as many times as I wish. Even though I'm sure that his phone number is unlisted.
Last year, during the campaign, I wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post calling for a Voter Privacy Bill of Rights.
In the op-ed I slammed both Obama and McCain for invading the privacy of voters, but particularly Obama's tech cool but privacy scary "Neighbor to Neighbor" online tool that allows ANYONE who registers at MyBarackObama.com to get a list of neighbors, their addresses and phone numbers.
This is the same program OFA is now unleashing on the nation in the name of healthcare.
Unfortunately for voters, there is no way to opt-out of this program. In fact, when I go to MyBarackObama.com to contact OFA do you know what I get for a contact page?
Please contact the WhiteHouse. That is it. Amazing. (See below for a Screen shot)
Here is what I had to say in September, 2008. Let's just say that the Obama campaign at the time was none to happy. Not much has changed.
This week, I received an e-mail from the Obama campaign that had the subject line: "Your Neighbors." Intrigued, I opened the message and learned that the campaign was launching a sophisticated program called "Neighbor-to-Neighbor" that makes "it easier than ever to connect with potential supporters in your community by phone or door-to-door." It continues: "Neighbor-to-Neighbor gives you the option to make phone calls or knock on doors -- the choice is yours."
The choice may be yours, but what about your neighbors, who may not want you to bother them at their homes?
This new program is both tech-cool and privacy-rights-scary. When I clicked through to myBarackObama.com, I was able to create "walk lists" using a Google map showing me exactly where potential Obama supporters near me live. The Web site provided the names, addresses and phone numbers of these targeted neighbors and offered a prompt for printing out the list. The last step? Log back in and record the results of your "door-to-door" conversations with voters.
I don't know about you, but I do not want my neighbors knocking on my door asking me whom I'm going to vote for. I certainly do not want my name, address and phone number printed on a Google map for the world to see. And, without a doubt, I do not want anyone calling me at home during dinner.
This is an invasion of privacy, because these voters never explicitly gave their permission to have themselves targeted in a database that invites their neighbors to walk "door to door" to try to persuade them to vote for a particular candidate.
When I tried to opt out of this tool, I learned that while I could opt out of campaign e-mail spam, there was no way that I could quickly, securely and comprehensively opt out of voter communications that I do not want to receive.
John McCain's Web site is much the same: It provides no mechanism for voters to opt out of unwanted communications other than e-mail.
Here is a screen shot of Jim VandeHei's call script. I made sure that his number did not show. After all, he did not give me permission to invade his privacy.
This is the screen you come to when you want to contact OFA. Amazing.
