Canadians alarmed by text messages asking their vote preference. Then their postal code. Then their name
CBC
It's election time, so receiving a text message from "Mary" or "Nancy" asking about your voting preferences might not seem all that unusual.
At least that's what Calgarian Stacey Schoneck thought when she heard her phone ping this week and read a message from a sender with "ERG National Research" posing that question, along with a list of federal party choices.
"I was momentarily quite excited [and] thought I get a chance to say what is going on in Alberta," said Schoneck.
So, she responded.
When a return text asked for her postal code, she responded again.
But then she was asked for her name. She says that's when she realized something was off and started asking the sender questions with no response.
"You don't need my name, so that to me was very suspect," Schoneck told CBC News.
She wasn't alone in being suspicious.
The Canadian Research Insights Council (CRIC), a polling industry association, posted a notice on its website last year saying it has received numerous complaints about these text-message tactics from ERG National Research.
The notice stresses that ERG is not a member of its association and "should not be confused with Environics Research, a CRIC member in good standing."
"We have very specific rules on how our members collect data and get survey information from individuals and we really use that as a way to try to distinguish a legitimate request from some that may not be legitimate," said CRIC CEO John Tabone.
Since issuing the notice, Tabone says people have been reaching out to CRIC regularly because they're worried about what might be done with the information they've shared.
"I've gotten concerns from people saying, 'You know, I'm a senior citizen, just fill this out. I know now that I've seen the information about it, I'm really concerned … You know, is there a risk to me?'" said Tabone.
Tabone has done his own research on the company but says what he has found has been limited — and confusing.
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