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One day, I got a knock at the door from a canvasser that started a conversation with "Since you've voted in every election," which is how I learned that it isn'

One day, I got a knock at the door from a canvasser that started a conversation with "Since you've voted in every election," which is how I learned that it isn't just voter registration information that is public, but so is the record of whether you've voted or not.

troydavis 4y ago
If you're curious, here's a screencast of one popular canvasser-facing tool, VoteBuilder: https://youtu.be/2GJU5tIhYG8?t=1388 https://youtu.be/2GJU5tIhYG8?t=1388 In addition to importing everyone's voting records, contacts/interactions with the party or campaigns, and the like, VoteBuilder also predicts a voter's likelihood to support different issues or races and chances of turning out: https://youtu.be/2GJU5tIhYG8?t=1428 https://youtu.be/2GJU5tIhYG8?t=1428 Did I mention that it has voters' cell phone numbers too? And a ton of other stuff. And good luck getting it removed, or even finding out who to contact to get it removed. (Longer intros: https://youtu.be/knCkUKUJU0k?t=533 https://youtu.be/knCkUKUJU0k?t=533, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGP_VAN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGP_VAN, https://support.nydems.org/support/solutions/articles/63000258348-what-is-van-votebuilder- https://support.nydems.org/support/solutions/articles/630002...)
- everybodyknows 4y ago
  Any clues how they get the cell numbers?
  - troydavis 4y ago
    The same places that non-political telemarketers do. Many retailers sell customer info, as do credit bureaus/financial services organizations and telecom firms. Google “phone data appending” and you’ll find lots of data brokers. I run a free site at https://simpleoptout.com https://simpleoptout.com that makes it easier to opt-out of data sharing. Doing that is the first step, but suitably motivated buyers (which includes the national parties) will still find someone selling your data. One other step helps: when there’s no need for an entity to have your phone number, don’t provide it. If a phone number is required for no reason, provide a fake number at an area code that’s not in use. This can easily reduce the privacy “attack surface” by 50%. Every random e-commerce vendor does not need your phone number to fulfill your order.
lern_too_spel 4y ago
"Public" to people who are allowed to access voter data. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/access-to-and-use-of-voter-registration-lists.aspx https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/access...

troydavis 4y ago

If you're curious, here's a screencast of one popular canvasser-facing tool, VoteBuilder: https://youtu.be/2GJU5tIhYG8?t=1388 https://youtu.be/2GJU5tIhYG8?t=1388 In addition to importing everyone's voting records, contacts/interactions with the party or campaigns, and the like, VoteBuilder also predicts a voter's likelihood to support different issues or races and chances of turning out: https://youtu.be/2GJU5tIhYG8?t=1428 https://youtu.be/2GJU5tIhYG8?t=1428 Did I mention that it has voters' cell phone numbers too? And a ton of other stuff. And good luck getting it removed, or even finding out who to contact to get it removed. (Longer intros: https://youtu.be/knCkUKUJU0k?t=533 https://youtu.be/knCkUKUJU0k?t=533, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGP_VAN https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGP_VAN, https://support.nydems.org/support/solutions/articles/63000258348-what-is-van-votebuilder- https://support.nydems.org/support/solutions/articles/630002...)

everybodyknows 4y ago
Any clues how they get the cell numbers?
- troydavis 4y ago
  The same places that non-political telemarketers do. Many retailers sell customer info, as do credit bureaus/financial services organizations and telecom firms. Google “phone data appending” and you’ll find lots of data brokers. I run a free site at https://simpleoptout.com https://simpleoptout.com that makes it easier to opt-out of data sharing. Doing that is the first step, but suitably motivated buyers (which includes the national parties) will still find someone selling your data. One other step helps: when there’s no need for an entity to have your phone number, don’t provide it. If a phone number is required for no reason, provide a fake number at an area code that’s not in use. This can easily reduce the privacy “attack surface” by 50%. Every random e-commerce vendor does not need your phone number to fulfill your order.

lern_too_spel 4y ago

"Public" to people who are allowed to access voter data. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/access-to-and-use-of-voter-registration-lists.aspx https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/access...