PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — The Election of 2020 has been a whirlwind. Everywhere you look as you drive to work or to run errands, political signs are gathered on street corners and in front of stores you shop in. When you turn on the TV, political ads run on almost every commercial break. Even when you stream your favorite shows or that movie you've been waiting to see, ads can pop up, reminding you to vote or why you should vote for a candidate.
It's enough to drive a person mad. As if all of those things were not enough, somehow, somewhere, your phone number got on a list and now you're getting calls and text messages about politics, voting and polling places.
How did these organizations get your information? Charles Ridgeway, an information tech and specialist for end user branch for the Security Exchange Commission, said it's actually not that hard.
"There's a comparison or a share of that information," Ridgeway said. "You have to use the ability to restrict and deny the PI information. Facebook, Google, those are some of the larger ones, companies that are using those as marketing schemes and marketing plans."
So how can you stop the madness? You can hide those unwanted text messages by setting up the unknown senders filter on your cell phone. Just open settings, go to messages, scroll down and select "filter unknown senders." Don't forget to swipe the toggle setting to "on."
While you'll still get the messages, they won't go into your main message thread.
Want to stop these messages and calls permanently? You can "opt out." Text the number back that's bothering you and say "stop" or call the sender and ask to be removed from their list.
Having problems? Let us know by texting 979-703-8404.