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Political parties use text messaging to help make guesses about who is likely to support them at the polls, noted Peter Graefe, associate professor of political science at McMaster University.

“It’s a very effective technique because it doesn’t cost much,” Graefe said.

If you respond with a simple yes or no, or you choose to write something more colourful, your response is valuable to the party, Graefe added.

Ontarians have reported receiving recent text messages from Ontario PC Leader and incumbent premier Doug Ford.

The Ontario PC Party has also confirmed it sends text messages, but has not indicated how it accesses Ontario residents’ cellphone numbers.

That’s raised privacy concerns for some voters.

‘This is an invasion of my privacy’

reader Marie Webb told us: “I was shocked and annoyed on receiving a text message from Doug Ford. I choose who I want to give my cell number to. This is an invasion of my privacy. Use the landline where I can choose to answer or not.”

Reader Yvette Nugent questioned why the PC government can send texts, but won’t use an electronic method, like direct deposit, to issue $200 taxpayer rebates.

“It would’ve been more cost efficient if the government would have done the direct deposit,” Nugent said in an email to Metroland.

Readers have also told us they have received unsolicited texts from other political parties.

What Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner says

While it’s not always clear how political parties and candidates access cellphone data, we asked Ontario’s information and privacy commissioner (IPC), to weigh in on the issue.

The IPC serves as the province’s transparency watchdog and provides oversight for access and privacy laws which apply to provincial and municipal public institutions such as ministries, municipalities, colleges, hospitals and child and family service providers.

But the IPC confirmed in a statement to Metroland that political parties and candidates are not subject to Ontario’s access and privacy laws.

“Regulations related to political advertising are overseen by , which oversees the , and the ,” the IPC’s statement notes. “If third-party vendors sell personal data, including telephone numbers, to political parties in Ontario, those vendors may be subject to federal privacy laws overseen by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

“Unsolicited commercial electronic messages, such as spam, are subject to federal anti-spam legislation which is enforced by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.”

Future laws should include political parties

The IPC’s office noted it has previously recommended any future private sector privacy laws in Ontario include political parties.

“Advances in technology allow for the collection and use of large amounts of personal information, raising privacy and security concerns,” the IPC’s statement added. “Ensuring strong privacy protections supports public confidence in how personal information is handled.”

Do-not-call list exemptions

The (CRTC) notes that regardless of whether Canadians are registered with the National Do Not Call List, residents may still receive calls and texts from political parties and candidates.

Parties and candidates are exempt from the do-not-call list, but some rules still apply.

Parties and candidates can contact people on the list, provided they maintain and respect their internal do-not-call list and identify themselves and the purpose of the call.

If you reply “stop” to political campaign text messages, you should not receive further communication, according to the intent of the CRTC rules.

How to lodge a complaint

If you’ve received a misleading call, text or email about the election, .

While parties and candidates are exempt from the do-not-call rules, they are not exempt from telemarketing and automatic dialing-announcing device rules, the CRTC notes.