Political parties...how did they get me name/address?

CrazyRabbit

Does anyone know how these muppets got hold of my name/address? They've spammed my letterbox with crap in the last few weeks.

I've never registered to vote (I have my reasons). And AFAIK, I've only given my name/address to my bank and the revenue office.

I thought that Data Protection Act was meant to protect personal data from being harvested and used for purposes you have not agreed to???

http://www.dataprotection.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/documents/rights/RightsPlainEnglish.htm&CatID=16&m=r

Liam Byrne

Answered a few times elsewhere on boards.

Similar to the way normal people have to provide receipts for expenses and have to answer to their employers, politicians have an exemption.

RLJ

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Answered a few times elsewhere on boards.

Similar to the way normal people have to provide receipts for expenses and have to answer to their employers, politicians have an exemption.

Friend of mine moved to new house year ago and did not register and got no mail or voting card. He did not want to vote, I am just curious how they did not 'find' him as they did the OP

gizmo555

Liam Byrne wrote: »

Answered a few times elsewhere on boards.

Similar to the way normal people have to provide receipts for expenses and have to answer to their employers, politicians have an exemption.

Politicians have an exemption, but if the OP received election material addressed directly to him or her, where did the politicians get the name and address if it's not on the electoral register?

If it's from some source to which the OP provided the information for other purposes, than the data controller involved would be in breach of data protection law for giving it to the politicians. To give an OTT example, even if it were willing to, a supermarket couldn't open up it's loyalty card database to a politician for canvassing purposes.

If you're really bothered by it OP, contact the office of the data protection commissioner and see if the political parties involved can be required to tell you the source of their data.

RLJ

gizmo555 wrote: »

.If you're really bothered by it OP, contact the office of the data protection commissioner and see if the political parties involved can be required to tell you the source of their data.

would be interesting to find out

The_Minister

Stick up a notice saying "No Canvassing/Election Material"

CrazyRabbit

The_Minister wrote: »

Stick up a notice saying "No Canvassing/Election Material"

Well I thought the "Canvassers may be shot" notice was enough.

I'll contact the commissioner and see what they have to say.

Regulator79

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Well I thought the "Canvassers may be shot" notice was enough.

I'll contact the commissioner and see what they have to say.

When politicians do mailshots its almost always based on the electoral register. This means that in all likelihood you are on the electoral register at your present address.

Whats your beef anyway? You live in a democracy. Democracies have elections, parties, candidatesthat compete for your vote.

Maybe you should move to North Korea? You wouldn't have to put up with all this democracy malarkey there.

Schumacher1

I misspelt my name in the census and thats whats coming through on the cards in the door. 40 of them now at least.

Why if the census says that it is for statitiscal purposes do we have to give our names. I will be contacting the department.

CrazyRabbit

Regulator79 wrote: »

When politicians do mailshots its almost always based on the electoral register. This means that in all likelihood you are on the electoral register at your present address.

Whats your beef anyway? You live in a democracy. Democracies have elections, parties, candidatesthat compete for your vote.

Maybe you should move to North Korea? You wouldn't have to put up with all this democracy malarkey there.

I don't like having my hallway covered in what I consider litter. If I want to know about a candidate, I'll research them online or arrange a meeting with them. I also have an issue with junk mail from an environmental point of view. A huge amount of unnecessary waste is generated with these leaflets.

It's nothing about liking/disliking democracy. It's about being able to choose whether to be spammed or not. And being given political propaganda without choosing it, sounds more like something that North Korea would do!

tolteq

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Does anyone know how these muppets got hold of my name/address? They've spammed my letterbox with crap in the last few weeks.

I've never registered to vote (I have my reasons). And AFAIK, I've only given my name/address to my bank and the revenue office.

I thought that Data Protection Act was meant to protect personal data from being harvested and used for purposes you have not agreed to???

http://www.dataprotection.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/documents/rights/RightsPlainEnglish.htm&CatID=16&m=r

I'd imagine they spam everybody's mailbox. why dont you vote? you dont really have a say.

aphex™

I certainly don't like certain political parties having my address. I asked for my name and address not to be published on the register (whatever opt out system they have).

I'd be interested in seeing where they got my info from also.

Our man in Havana

That opt out does not apply to election mailings.

aphex™

Bond-007 wrote: »

That opt out does not apply to election mailings.

Fair enough, I'll write to the returning officer and warn him not to ever give out my name and address again.

viv2

Schumacher1 wrote: »

I misspelt my name in the census and thats whats coming through on the cards in the door. 40 of them now at least.

Why if the census says that it is for statitiscal purposes do we have to give our names. I will be contacting the department.

How can you spell your own name wrong?

CrazyRabbit

tolteq wrote: »

I'd imagine they spam everybody's mailbox. why dont you vote? you dont really have a say.

Why don't I vote? Because I couldn't choose which candidate was the lesser of several evils.

I quite simply didn't see any candidates that were either qualified for the job or struck me as being honest.

Think of this...
If you owned a very large company and were in need of a CEO to run the company, would you give the job to a person with absolutely no management training? These politicians have varied backgrounds (solicitors, teachers etc), but none are qualified for a role in managing a country.

Regulator79

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Why don't I vote? Because I couldn't choose which candidate was the lesser of several evils.

I quite simply didn't see any candidates that were either qualified for the job or struck me as being honest.

Think of this...
If you owned a very large company and were in need of a CEO to run the company, would you give the job to a person with absolutely no management training? These politicians have varied backgrounds (solicitors, teachers etc), but none are qualified for a role in managing a country.

A minute ago you were saying that you do your own research on candidates and that you don’t need “propaganda” coming through your letter box. And now, that you don’t vote at all.

So why bother with the research you allegedly do when you know you are not going to vote anyway?

Personally, I think people who have an issue with political material coming through their doors are wing nuts. I mean how much of an imposition is it really. Touch of the Victor Meldrews me thinks.

CrazyRabbit

Regulator79 wrote: »

A minute ago you were saying that you do your own research on candidates and that you don’t need “propaganda” coming through your letter box. And now, that you don’t vote at all.

So why bother with the research you allegedly do when you know you are not going to vote anyway?

Personally, I think people who have an issue with political material coming through their doors are wing nuts. I mean how much of an imposition is it really. Touch of the Victor Meldrews me thinks.

I don't know why this is so hard to understand.
I have checked out all the candidates in my area and none of them are competent enough for the job IMHO. Hence I didn't vote for them.
I don't need physical junk mail to decide who to vote for. It's an environmental waste, spam, and I have to pay to dispose of it!

Yoda

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

Why don't I vote? Because I couldn't choose which candidate was the lesser of several evils.

That's, erm, cowardly. Because all it means is that you are happy to let everyone else choose for you.

Yoda

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

It's an environmental waste, spam, and I have to pay to dispose of it!

In Mayo, anyway, the Recycling Bin is collected free of charge.

Liam Byrne

Regulator79 wrote: »

Personally, I think people who have an issue with political material coming through their doors are wing nuts. I mean how much of an imposition is it really. Touch of the Victor Meldrews me thinks.

That's extremely insulting and derogatory. Unwanted marketing material has been singled out as a major issue, to the point where it's law that people have to opt-in (or - confusingly on the register - opt out).

I don't want this crap, and most of it will end up unread in my recycle bin (which unlike Yoday in Mayo) I have to pay for.

But regardless of why, I don't want it. So YOUR view of "how much of an imposition" it is is irrelevant. You can get them to drop them all in your letterbox if you so choose, but when it's MY letterbox, it's MY view that counts.

Plus, paying to dispose of it is on top of having already paid for it through my taxes to give these idiots the expenses to send it out.....some unelected sheister running locally actually sent their letter in a Seanad envelope, FFS! I'm not elected either, and wish I could send out my letters at someone else's expense.

If I choose to be informed as to ACTUAL progress and what candidates have ACTUALLY achieved, then I'll read the papers and the news and internet sites.

Sending self-congratulatory crap through my letterbox is not going to make me vote for someone, and is actually going to make me less likely to.

daheff

i dont think that Politicians should be given our data from the electoral register. I signed up for the "opt-out" version....but still get rubbish off these candidates (and yes it is a problem to me...think of all the rubbish that is generated / trees destroyed to create all the flyers)

One sitting councillor called around to me the other day. I didnt want to be rude to her (or talk to her) so told her that I wasnt on the register and didnt want to be voting...she pulled out her electoral register book and went...oh you are Mr x living at blah blah you are on the register. Which led me to having to be rude to her just to get rid of her!! (Thankfully Katie Ridge is no longer a councillor!...oh the karma of it)

Our man in Havana

There is no opt out for political mail.

As for dealing with annoying candidates, tell them you are a SF/FF or whatever they are not voter. That will get rid of most canvassers.

Liam Byrne

Bond-007 wrote: »

There is no opt out for political mail.

As for dealing with annoying candidates, tell them you are a SF/FF or whatever they are not voter. That will get rid of most canvassers.

:eek: You're suggesting that we lie to politicians ????

What was that word mentioned earlier ? Karma ?

Morgase

Yoda wrote: »

In Mayo, anyway, the Recycling Bin is collected free of charge.

You are lucky, I wish we had that in Wicklow! Bin tags for the recycling bin are half the price of the normal bin tag.

Got a text on Thursday evening from a FG candidate in Wicklow, Irene Winters. I have no idea where she got my private mobile number from, and her intrusion ensured that she didn't even get a preference from me.

Yoda

Morgase wrote: »

You are lucky, I wish we had that in Wicklow! Bin tags for the recycling bin are half the price of the normal bin tag.

Well in Rural Mayo the rubbish charges aren't low, but they do the Recycling without extra charges. Every other week. Bourke's. They're good.

Got a text on Thursday evening from a FG candidate in Wicklow, Irene Winters. I have no idea where she got my private mobile number from, and her intrusion ensured that she didn't even get a preference from me.

We had that from one of the FG candidates I think. Not happy about it. Post is one thing. He got a preference from me (not very high, but higher than some others).

CrazyRabbit

Yoda wrote: »

That's, erm, cowardly. Because all it means is that you are happy to let everyone else choose for you.

Who are you calling a coward? I thought flaming wasn't permitted here?

And besides, voter apathy is in itself a vote. It's a vote for 'none of the above'. There are many of us who do not believe in the current political system and have no wish to promote it by voting. This is a democracy (or at least it tries to be), and therefore have the choice...the right to not vote.

It is the brave that dare stand up and voice their concerns to those in control.

Yoda

I said that I considered your actions to be cowardly. That's not the same as calling you a coward.

I've heard the "idealistic" view "I have a right not to vote" before. I shrug. It's not noble. It's a complete cop-out. I've been to Iran, and to Burma. You have, perhaps, no idea what the idea of free elections means. You have no idea how fortunate you are. And you turn your back on the fortune you have. It's appalling. Not long ago most people lived in feudal or post-feudal societies where no one had much of a say in anything. Now we do, you do, and yet you call yourself "brave" for making no choice at all, but leaving it to everyone else. Your bravery means exactly this: "I reject my right to be heard." It means nothing more.

You may not like the candidates, but some are surely worse than others, and keeping the worst ones out by putting them at the bottom of your ballot would be far more useful to society than abdicating the responsibility our country's constitution offers you.

This is not a flame. Not a bit of it.

Yoda

Yoda wrote: »

I said that I considered your actions to be cowardly. That's not the same as calling you a coward.

Not much difference really.

I've heard the "idealistic" view "I have a right not to vote" before. I shrug. It's not noble. It's a complete cop-out. I've been to Iran, and to Burma. You have, perhaps, no idea what the idea of free elections means. You have no idea how fortunate you are. And you turn your back on the fortune you have. It's appalling. Not long ago most people lived in feudal or post-feudal societies where no one had much of a say in anything. Now we do, you do, and yet you call yourself "brave" for making no choice at all, but leaving it to everyone else. Your bravery means exactly this: "I reject my right to be heard." It means nothing more.

To you it means nothing more, but to others it does have meaning. I've lived in China for quite some time, so I'm familiar with what you're referring to, but there is a major difference here. The right to vote has been in this country for quite some time now, and the political parties have lost most of their individualism. There is simply very little difference between them. They blame each other constantly for the mistakes of the past, and rarely focus on how to fix problems, unless it contains some barb at another parties suggestions.

By deciding not to vote, many people I know have decided that its a way of showing no confidence in the Irish political system. They've spoken about it to death, and have passed on their concerns to various political groups, but its very easy to see a system that firstly refuses to change, and secondly continues to get worse as time goes by.

You may not like the candidates, but some are surely worse than others, and keeping the worst ones out by putting them at the bottom of your ballot would be far more useful to society than abdicating the responsibility our country's constitution offers you.

Your vote is your own choice. Just as his is his own. His choice not to vote is just as much a statement as your choice to vote. Unless the law is changed he has the right to take such a stand.

This is not a flame. Not a bit of it.

True, but it could have been phrased better.

Deacon Blues

Not voting is a cop out. A much better way of expressing your disapproval would be to spoil your vote by writing NONE OF THE ABOVE on it. To me, the people who don't vote are muppets who forgot there was an election. A large number of spoilt votes indicates that there are a large number of people who care enough to get up off their arses and go out and register a protest (plus the small number of muppets who don't know how to fill in a ballot paper correctly).

If everyone who thought like you spoilt their vote, and the turnout was massive with large numbers of spoilt votes, I think you might get somewhere.

Capt'n Midnight

which elections is it where every candidate is allowed ONE letter to be delivered to each registered voter free of charge ?