LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — As election season gets into full swing, so do campaign calls and political text messages from candidates seeking votes.
A Las Vegas cybersecurity specialist looked at how customers can mitigate political campaign robocalls and text messages and keep their personal information safe.
“These text messages are a new way of communicating with people, and for voters, this is a new way of communicating with email, because every time there was a warning about email, people were getting bombarded with email. , now we’ve switched to SMS messages, said Mac Jackson Jr., cybersecurity expert and owner of Vanderson Cyber Group.
Jackson Jr., like many of his clients and other consumers he’s spoken to, says he’s not new when it comes to being bombarded with political campaign messages.
“As a consumer myself who has been attacked by both sides for campaign contributions, I can tell you that I am more than just a consultant,” Jackson Jr. said.
Unfortunately for consumers, Jackson Jr. says all of the troubling campaign robocalls and text messages are legal. It says it’s all within the fine print.
“Essentially, when you sign up for something on a shopping mall’s online service or on social media, information about you is collected and entered into a data mining system that allows the system to critique and analyze various characteristics of yourself. ”, Jackson Jr. says. Added.
Jackson Jr. said the best advice to prevent contacts is for consumers to mark calls and messages as spam and reply “STOP.” However, Jackson Jr. said while this effort could slow down political campaign messages, there is no guarantee. It will prevent them in the long run.
“It won’t stop because, as we know, the next campaign will start again on November 6th. It’s going to be sold or advertised to another company that’s trying to get your information. So it’s an ongoing operation.”
Jackson Jr. advises consumers to limit the sharing of personal information on social media to prevent political campaign calls and texts. He also recommends that consumers personally contact data brokers to request complete deletion of their personal information.
