Brown ignores privacy law

As a privacy-conscious voter, imagine my dismay to recently receive an unsolicited text message from “Lin,” who represented herself as a volunteer with the Lisa Brown for Congress campaign. The message was under the guise of asking my opinion on the issues of the day.

When I asked how Brown’s campaign received my name and phone number, I was told the campaign gets phone numbers from the state voter file, which is public information. Trouble is, my cellphone number isn’t listed in the state voter file.

I’d have left it alone, except I heard from several friends who said they too were receiving the same spam text messages. According to the Federal Trade Commission, it is illegal to send unsolicited messages to wireless devices, including cellphones, unless the sender gets your permission first. Regardless of whether these messages are illegal, they are certainly unwanted. What’s more disturbing is the complete lack of transparency about how my information was acquired or being used.

After all, if we can’t expect Brown to tell the truth about how she’s campaigning for our votes, how does she expect voters like me to be able to trust her in Congress?

Sandi Brabb

Colfax