Complaints made over candidates’ texts

THE Office of the Data Protection Commissioner said yesterday it had received a number of calls from people complaining they had been bombarded with text messages from election candidates.

As part of the most hi-tech general election ever, a number of candidates sent out a large number of texts asking for a number one vote.

Tony Delaney of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner said yesterday a number of complaints had been received — but there was nothing illegal in what Dáil hopefuls were doing.

“We have got a few queries on this today — it all seems to have taken off in the past few days that the candidates are canvassing via text,” he said.

“In normal circumstances the sending of unsolicited text messages for the purposes of direct marketing is an offence. The difference is that section one of the Data Protection Act defines direct marketing as framed in such a way that it excludes political activities. There may be an issue regarding the obtaining of the phone numbers — that could be questionable. However, sending the texts is not punishable by any penalty, but individual circumstances would have to be looked at.”

A number of companies compile databases of mobile phone numbers and sell them on. The Office also said a number of people had complained about the amount of election literature they had received, but again, that is not illegal under current legislation.

One of the candidates who sent out a text on Wednesday evening was independent candidate in Dublin Mid West, Cllr Derek Keating.

He said he had sent messages only to those people he knew and that he had sent “several dozen”.

“I was with a number of people last night and they received texts from other candidates and what was interesting was that they had no way of contacting them back,” he said.

“When they tried to phone them or text them they found it was not possible. There were people there who did not have a clue how the candidates got their numbers.”

Meanwhile, free drink was doled out by Labour senator Derek McDowell yesterday to encourage people to vote for him.

Mr McDowell, who lost out by a mere 200 votes last time round, has spared neither effort nor expense in his attempts to win back his Dáil seat.

At the crack of dawn the politician was out with his loyal campaigners on Dublin’s northside delivering 5,000 bottles of water with a Vote No. 1 message.

Mr McDowell, an articulate Senate finance spokesman and a TD for 10 years between 1992 and 2002, is expected to be fighting for the third seat in Dublin North Central.

Mr McDowell hit on the bottle as way boosting his chances to regain his Dáil seat.

During the campaign he used mini bottles of water highlighting Labour’s key election commitments at DART stations throughout the constituency.

“The reaction has been great. People see them as an eye-catching and quirky way to grab voters’ attention and communicate a serious message,” he said.

And with 5,000 bottles left he decided to leave them on voters’ doorsteps on polling day before people went to work or dropped their children off to school.

“It’s a final reminder to people about the importance of voting Labour to ensure a change of government,” he said.