"How Did You Get My Number?" What Do You Think About Campaign Texts Ahead of the General Election?

Citizens Feel Text Fatigue from Election Campaign Messages
Controversy Over Sending Texts Without Personal Consent, Privacy Invasion Concerns
Voters Receiving Texts from Unrelated Districts
Election Commission Advises "Inquiries to Candidates or Reports to Privacy Protection Agencies"

Ahead of the April 15 general election, citizens are expressing fatigue as election-related text messages flood in. The photo shows a voter receiving a candidate's text message. Photo by Suwan Kim suwan@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] "How did you get my number? Isn't this illegal?"

Office worker A (27) expressed frustration over the repeated election campaign texts that come every election season. A said, "I don't know how they found my number. It feels like it was obtained illegally, which makes me very uneasy," adding, "I wonder if it's okay to use personal information so freely," venting her anger.

She continued, "Election-related texts are coming without fail this time as well. Even if I opt out, the same place keeps sending messages," and "I asked people around me and heard it's not illegal. Even if I complain, nothing really changes," she lamented.

As the April 15 general election approaches, citizens are complaining about fatigue caused by the flood of election-related texts. Some feel stressed by the repeated indiscriminate text messages, while others believe it is unavoidable due to the impossibility of face-to-face campaigning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In particular, there have been controversies as voters received election text messages from constituencies with which they have no connection.

Various online community boards and portal site inquiry posts are flooded with complaints about election-related texts, such as "Can't we report election texts?" and "Too many texts are coming as the general election approaches."

One netizen recently posted on an online community, "Election texts keep coming; where should I report this?" and "I have no idea where they get my number from," expressing frustration.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The problem lies in the illegal collection of phone numbers, which are considered personal information. Some netizens are complaining because texts are coming without their consent.

As a result, criticism of the random text message sending method during election seasons is growing. Election campaign texts sent without individual consent are considered violations of personal information.

Office worker B (32) said, "It's been 3 to 4 years since I moved to another area, but I keep getting texts from the constituency where I used to live," expressing frustration. He added, "I consider this a personal information violation. I don't even live in that constituency and can't vote there, so receiving such texts just makes me feel bad."

College student C (24) said, "I really hate when election season comes because of these texts," adding, "It only creates negative feelings toward the candidate. I don't think it's a good method, so I don't understand why they send texts."

One netizen posted on social networking services (SNS), "I contacted the number and asked, 'How did you get my personal information? I'm going to report you,' and then I stopped receiving messages," but also wrote, "Still, I don't know how they got my number, so it's frustrating."

Ahead of the April 15 general election, citizens are expressing fatigue as election-related text messages flood in.
Photo by Yonhap News

According to the '2019 Personal Information Protection Annual Report' published by the Personal Information Protection Commission in September last year, about 20,000 reports and consultations related to election campaign text message transmissions were received by the Personal Information Infringement Report Center in 2018, and 460,000 reports of illegal spam (advertising information for illegal commercial purposes) transmissions were also filed.

Under the current Public Official Election Act (Article 59), only public office candidates or preliminary candidates are allowed to send election campaign texts, and the number of times is limited to five. Additionally, only one phone number registered with the Central Election Commission can be used for each transmission.

Moreover, if a voter clearly expresses their intention to refuse receipt but is contacted again, under Article 82 of the Election Act, the candidate may face imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 1 million won.

Thus, while the current Public Official Election Act permits the sending of election campaign text messages, it does not specifically regulate the basis for collecting personal information, which allows candidates to indiscriminately collect personal data.

The issue arises because the Public Official Election Act and the Personal Information Protection Act do not clearly specify provisions regarding the use of personal information.

On the other hand, some argue that due to the prolonged COVID-19 situation, candidates have no choice but to promote themselves non-face-to-face. This is because guidelines have been issued to refrain from face-to-face campaigning amid the COVID-19 impact.

Housewife D in her 40s said, "I don't really mind receiving election texts," adding, "These days, candidates can't campaign in person because of COVID-19, so I think they need to inform people of their pledges or aspirations this way."

A Central Election Commission (CEC) official told Asia Economy in a phone interview, "Illegalities in the process of collecting phone numbers are handled under the Personal Information Protection Act, so it is not under the jurisdiction of the CEC. Therefore, there is nothing the CEC can do."

He added, "From the voters' perspective, it may be somewhat inconvenient, but during the election campaign period, candidates need to inform people of their pledges or information, so it is somewhat unavoidable."

He further said, "Also, the information may include things voters need to know, so we ask for some understanding," and "Usually, candidates would have taken measures to allow recipients to opt out when sending text messages."

He advised, "If you feel your personal information has been infringed, it would be good to contact the candidate to resolve the issue or report it to the relevant personal information protection agency."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.