Hold those robo calls
The founder of the National Political Do Not Contact Registry offers tips on how to stop those unwanted calls
Follow @infoworldWow! When I posted about robo calls last week, I never expected a response like that. Not only did people lash out in the comments of that post, but I got a ton of e-mail on the topic. Apparently I'm not the only one who is irritated by marketing calls, political calls, or "surveys" that arrive via phone.
The question on everyone's lips seems to be, "If these are so universally unpopular, why do companies and political parties persist? Don't they know they are just pissing us off?" OK, they must have numbers that say it's worth it, but maybe they aren't reading those correctly.
One of the responses I got to that article was from Shaun Dakin -- CEO and founder The National Political Do Not Contact Registry. And he claims (on his site) that "the only third party and legitimate studies [on the effectiveness of robo calls] have been performed by Dr. Green and Dr. Gerber at Yale University. According to Dr. Green robo calls have 'a perfect record of never having worked.'"
Dakin also offered some great tips for avoiding the particular irritant that is the political robo call. He lists them on his site, and they are terrific. For example, you probably know to unlist your phone with the telephone company. But did you know that you can unlist your phone number from Google (and it's free)?
Some states ban robo calls altogether -- with no exemptions. Does yours? Check it out. According to Dakin, "California is the biggest state with a robo call ban. If you live in CA, robo calls are illegal according to the California Public Utilities Code sections 2871-2876. We have set up a specific web page to help CA residents file a complaint and to learn more about the law."
There is a ton of information at Dakin's site, but he has one more tip I want to weigh in on: Dakin suggests you refuse to offer up your phone number when you register to vote, volunteer for a political party, or donate to a political party. If you do, you will get calls. That's a good one.
