The National Political Do Not Contact Registry - Stop Political Calls BLOG

(Audio) #CO - American Crossroads and American's for Prosperity Robocalls (2)

By Shaun Dakin, CEO and Founder, The National Political Do Not Contact Registry at www.StopPoliticalCalls.org

#1 - Americans for Prosperity - web site here.

Robocall one > A woman's voice, GOTV, make your voice heard. Taxes, spending. Click here to listen.

#2 - American Crossroads - web site here.

Robocall two > Jack from AC, against Senator Bennett, spending $2.5B in spending. No to spending. For Ken Buck. Click here to listen.


Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls

Best Political Email Subject Line Of Week? > "Don't Make Me Call You" @MoveOn #privacy #p2 #tcot

By Shaun Dakin, CEO and Founder, The National Political Do Not Contact Registry at www.StopPoliticalCalls.org

This is the best email of the week.   

MoveOn sends the following email and essentially begs me to start calling OTHER people so "Bob Webb in MI" can take me off his list!

I don't know about the psychology of this, but I guess they know what they are doing. Notice, as well, the numbers of volunteers that they are looking for in my town. It is clear that that some of my neighbors are helping out, if only I could as well !

I know that there is some literature out there that states that the best way to get people to vote is to send them a letter with the names of all their immediate neighbors and telling them that they voted and that they should as well.

I know that, at least, I opened the email rather than deleting it.




Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls

(Audio) - #NYGOV 2 Paladino Robocalls - Buffalo Bills Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas #p2 #TCOT #Teaparty

By Shaun Dakin, CEO and Founder, The National Political Do Not Contact Registry at www.StopPoliticalCalls.org

Thanks to a fellow twitterer we received the following 2 robocalls from the New York Governor's race, both from Carl Paladino.

Who - 1 Carl Paladino and 2 former Buffalo Bills Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas (Running Back)
Paid For - Carl Paladino
Audio - Yes


Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls

Paladino Bills.wav

Carl Paladino1.wav

(Audio) - Sarah Palin Robocall to #FL voters #p2 #tcot #teaparty

By Shaun Dakin, CEO and Founder, The National Political Do Not Contact Registry at www.StopPoliticalCalls.org

Who- Sarah Palin
What - General Get Out The Vote robocall
About - Small Govt, lower taxes, go to the polls.
Paid - Faith and Freedom Coalition http://www.ffcoalition.com/

Where - Florida
When - Today

Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls

Palin_FL.mp3

(Audio) #MO - Robocall with vague Racial Undertones Confuses Voters in NE Missouri

By Shaun Dakin, CEO and Founder, The National Political Do Not Contact Registry at www.StopPoliticalCalls.org

Mostly robocalls are pretty boring. Deadly boring; but cheap.

They are routinely nothing but candidates begging you to vote for them. Wives telling you how great their husbands are, or visa versa. Mostly they are banal, boring, trite and unmemorable. There are really very few robocalls that could be categorized as "dirty tricks". There are always reports of calls that tell certain voters to vote on Wednesday vs. Tuesday or to vote in a different polling place. Few of those reports are ever validated.

This one tonight falls into the vague netherworld of the fine art of American political race baiting.  

Why?

It is hard to understand, there is no disclosure at the end, and the accent of the caller could be considered that of an African American male. The call was sent into North East Missouri. According to Wikipedia, 86% of the MO population is white. NE MO is probably more white than other places. I don't know.

The Call:

Who - No one knows. - "CJ"

Against - No one knows. It supports State Representative Rebecca McClanahan to advance Obama's agenda on health care and climate change

Caller ID - Adair County Ambulance District

Article in local press is here.

Several calls are being made with the caller ID of the Adair County
Ambulance District. State Rep. Rebecca McClanahan's campaign says it
knows nothing about the phone calls. The campaign of her opponent
Zachary Wyatt denies responsibility for the calls. The Adair County
Ambulance District is not involved and spent hours today talking with
concerned citizens.

Robocall audio is here.

Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCallsYou can find his email here.

(Audio) How many times can you say Hard Core Pornography or Gay Porn in a Robocall? #p2 #tcot #LGBT

By Shaun Dakin, CEO and Founder, The National Political Do Not Contact Registry at www.StopPoliticalCalls.org

The Christian Right are having a field day fighting the culture wars via robocalls this election cycle. First in Michigan with a robocall that used the word "Homosexual" 10 times and now with a robocall in Missouri that talks about Gay Pornography.

Who - House Republican
Campaign Committee, Inc.

Against - Courtney Cole. Website here - http://www.votecourtneycole.com/

Article about it here.

Transcript - This is an urgent alert for all Christian families. Before you vote you
should know that state representative candidate Courtney Cole has taken
hundreds in campaign donations from a representative of the hard core
pornography industry, including gay pornography. By allowing her
Democratic campaign to be funded by those who are involved with and
support hard core pornography Courtney Cole clearly does not share our
Christian family values. On election day stand up for what's right and
decent by voting no on Courtney Cole. Paid for by House Republican
Campaign Committee, Inc.

Audio. Click here.

Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls
You can find his email here.

MI Robocall - How Many Times Can You Say Homosexual in a Phone Message? #p2 #tcot #privacy

You know that election day is almost here when the wacky, weird, and hateful robocalls start to emerge from the woodwork. Looks like Michigan is going to be leading the pack this election cycle.

This MI State race robocall will probably go down as the message with the most number of times "homosexual" is used in a single campaign spot.

How many times? Let's count the times.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Who > The Campaign for Michigan Families. Facebook page here.

Against > Toni Sessoms. Website here.

Audio file? > Yes. See attatched file to this post.

Press? > Looks like the CMF has used this against other politicians. Here is a story.

Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls
You can find his email here.

MoveOn gives voters a way to opt-out in their Phone From Home Application #privacy #p2 #tcot

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the Democrats and Republicans "phone from home" tools with a specific focus on voter privacy. Who "won"? It wasn't even close. 

The Republicans blew the Democrats away. All the details are at my post here, but the bottom line is that the Democrats revealed the following critical personal information to anyone on the internet who wanted to start making calls:

Home PhoneParty IdentificationGenderAgeHome Town

Today I take a look at a major progressive organization, MoveOn.org, and their phone from home tool.

Bottom line?

MoveOn.org is head and shoulders above the Democrats in terms of protecting voter privacy AND giving the voter a way to opt out of future calls. MoveOn does not use the "click to call" technology of the Republicans which does such a great job of hiding both the volunteer's phone number as well as the voter's number.  

What I really like about the MoveOn tool is that they have a very clear "resolution" for a reached call that allows the volunteer to record the "Don't Call Again" wishes of the voter.

Here it is:



Here are two screen shots that, put together, provide you a view of what the main screen looks to a volunteer.

Note the very easy usability and very limited "ask" of the volunteer and the voter. The colors are helpful as well.

MoveOn does not reveal the voter's: Age, Full name, Gender, or location.






Hats off to MoveOn for revealing little personal information about the voter and, in particular, for giving the voter the right to opt out of future calls.



Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls
You can find his email here.

AUDIO ROBO CALL - Tom Corbett for Governor (PA)

Who - Tom Corbett for Governor (PA)
Audio file - Yes

Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org.  
Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as
one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United
States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un
conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls
You can find his email here.

corbett1.mp3

Democrats vs. Republicans On Voter #Privacy. Who Wins?

Here is a question for you. Which political party respects voter privacy more?

The basic answer is that nether political party really cares what the voter thinks about privacy very much. They care about winning and winning a majority; as they should.

In fact, both parties are willing to send robocalls into your home all day long without respecting either the Federal Do Not Call Registry or the non-partisan National Political Do Not Contact Registry. (which I run - the NPDNC registry is a non-partisan non-profit organization that provides a free service to voters who want to get off political call lists and candidates who wish to respect the privacy rights of voters)


This election cycle, however, both parties have recently released their version of the "phone from home" volunteer phone applications. The Democrats have their "2010 OFA Call Tool" where they are hoping to have volunteers make 15 million phone calls. The GOP has their new "Call From Home" tool at 40PhoneCalls.com.

     
Both tools have the same purpose:

To allow volunteers , from the comfort of their home, to call voters to get them to vote.



Neither party has an "opt out" mechanism clearly available on their website for voters to request to be removed from call lists. Neither tool seems to have an option or call resolution that allows voters to request to be removed from call lists in the future.

So, which party respects the privacy of the voter more?

The GOP or the Republicans. It is not even close.

Why?

The GOP 40PhoneCalls.com application has two very important features that the "2010 OFA Call Tool" does not have.

Volunteer caller ID protection > Since the GOP system makes the phone call using "click to call" technology the volunteer's actual home number is never shown to the voter. Instead, and this is very smart, the actual state GOP party phone number is displayed in the caller ID for the voter.  

Why does this mater? This is HUGE. Imagine I'm making phone calls from my home phone here in Virginia to Ohio. The voter in Ohio 1) doesn't recognize the 703 area code so probably won't pick up 2) if they miss the call and see the number on their caller ID list they may call me back wondering why I was calling them in the first place. I remember doing these calls in the 04 and 06 cycles and having exactly this issue occur. I'd call into rural Ohio, leave a voice mail, and a few hours later get a call from a pissed off voter wondering why I was calling them.

Voter phone number protection > The 40PhoneCalls.com application never displays the actual phone number of the voter being called. This is great for protecting the privacy of the individual voter.

In addition, the GOP tool does not display the Gender, Age, and Party affiliation of the voter.
In contrast the "2010 OFA Call Tool" does the following:

The Full Voter Information File is shown to the volunteer caller:

Full nameFull phone numberGenderAgeParty IdentificationCaller ID Protection Does Not Exist
Volunteer's make the calls from their own telephones. Their personal caller ID will be displayed on the voter's caller ID.

No registration is required at the Democrat's website so the Democrats DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO IS MAKING THE CALLSThis, also, is HUGE. The Democrats, in the interest of lowering the barrier to calling allows ANYONE to start calling voters.

Seriously.Really.Here are some screen shots:

The 40PhoneCalls.com site from the GOP is here:

NOTE:

The voter's phone number is not displayedOnly my phone number is displayedThere is no gender, age, or party identification displayed



Contrast the GOP site with the Democrats:

NOTE:

The voter's name and phone number are displayedThe location is displayedThe age, sex and party identification is displayed



I wonder when political parties will realize that voter privacy is an important issue? Will protecting voter privacy win an election for a party or a candidate? I don't know the answer to that, but I do know that those candidates that respect the privacy rights of voters have a better chance of looking at themselves in the morning and feeling good about themselves.

Shaun Dakin is the CEO and Founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry located at StopPoliticalCalls.org. Mr. Dakin has testified at the US Senate and is widely recognized as one of the leading advocates for voter privacy rights in the United States. He is the founder, as well, of the global series of un conferences called PrivacyCamp. He is also the recipient of the 2008 Mashable.com Open Web Award for non profit social media activism. He lives in Falls Church, VA with his family.

While working on voter privacy issues he tweets at @EndTheRoboCalls
You can find his email here.