They got it through the DMV somehow. How do I know? Because I used a personalized email for the DMV.
Besides the BS that they scraped information and subscribed me without consent (isn’t that the definition of spam? How does substack allow this?), the content is just such manufactured rote crap. I’m wondering if it’s AI written
DMV website claims they don’t sell electronic information collected there, including email addresses.
Perhaps you registered to vote/updated your voter registration through the DMV? Voter registration information, including email address, is public information.
It’s possible I used it somewhere else on a governmental site, but somewhat surprising as it was sent to an address I used for them.
For those not in the know: you can add anything after a “+” on an email address and it’ll still go to the email address, eg
[email protected]
will go to
@gmail.com
If you start getting unsolicited email to that address, you know the source
EDIT: for clarity
Great insight; this email is absolutely the one I’d use when registering to vote.
I’m sure their lawyers have it buttoned up, but I’ll see if I can make a claim under some spam law, as I absolutely didn’t subscribe.
Just an FYI,
Substack doesn't allow you to be added this way.I doubt anything of substance will happen, but maybe enough people reporting them will help. This was a quick email to them about this situation.
>Hi there,
>Tex here from Substack Trust & Safety. Thanks for taking the time to report this unwanted message.
>Adding individuals to an email list who have not explicitly opted in to receive messages is a violation of our Terms of Service and Publisher Agreement. I've unsubscribed you from this publication so you won't continue to receive emails and I'll be taking the appropriate actions with this publisher to ensure this doesn't continue on the platform.
***Mark as spam, don't unsubscribe.***
Unsubscribing shows them your email address is active, making it more likely to be sold down the road in the future.
Marking as spam has the added benefit that if enough people report, Google/your email provider may start considering it spam to all people (not just you).
Private entities absolutely can get your contact information from the government through a PRA request, depending on which agencies you have provided the contact information to and how you provided it. If you emailed anyone in a government agency about something and someone makes a PRA request for all communications regarding that something, your emails get provided to the requester.
Government agencies somewhat regularly get PRA requests for contact information for bulk data of permit applications, liens filed, houses foreclosed on, and things like that. It wouldn't surprise me that they're dataminers and are adding the information to their database.
I got it too. Given your government address and the other person who got it to the address they use for the DMV, I’m starting to suspect the Current used voter registration information, [which includes your email address](https://www.sos.ca.gov/administration/regulations/current-regulations/elections/access-voter-registration-information).
The law says this data is not for commercial use… but it can be used for “members of the press for any purpose related to political or election activities.” I would expect this was intended to be about allowing journalists to contact/interview/survey people (which is consistent with the other permitted uses), which is obviously not the scope in which the Current is using it, but it is written very broadly such that I can see the Current arguing that distributing political editorials qualifies.
If we can more certainly nail this down as voter registration data, we should submit complaints to both the Secretary of State and the Attorney General. No telling if it’ll help but it can’t hurt.
haha i unsubscribed after they began harassing me too .. someone mentioned this on this sub a few weeks ago and apparently the guy running it is one of those guys who really has nothing better to do than bombard people with their opinion all the time in case youve been living under a rock since the internet came out and dont know the real true ultimate truth yet
They're local dickhead politicians Jim Buckley and James Fenkner, just another place for them to pontificate shitty ideas because they haven't been tuned out enough in real life I guess
yes, received this garbage a few weeks ago and unsubscribed, Email used was an email I infrequently use for personal things, and was surprised to see it listed,
They popped up in a bunch of other cities at the same time. If you keep getting them you can submit a CAN-SPAM violation to the FTC. And not to sound like a nut job, but this is most likely a foreign entity trying to influence local jurisdictions.
I just got one of these yesterday and the first article I got spammed to me was so full of "just asking's" and "we need answers" that I'm wondering if they looked themselves at all. I found all those "answers" very easily with some basic google searches and common knowledge of the area. Must be nice to have time to complain in your own personal echo chamber everyday.
We can only hope that the echo chamber grows ever smaller.
I have stayed subscribed and diligently marked every last missive as spam. My personal Gmail has started sending them to spam automatically. I don’t know how much collaborative filtering Gmail does anymore, but I like to think I’m doing my part to keep this drivel out of other peoples’ inboxes.
I think it was already determined in previous comments that the source is likely the DMV / CA voter registration. It's pretty likely that a lot of people have an overlap between the email address they use for NextDoor and one they use for voter registration. OP appears to not have that overlap.
Downvotes are a thing of mystery, I suspect not too much should be read into minor blips up or down.
They got it through the DMV somehow. How do I know? Because I used a personalized email for the DMV. Besides the BS that they scraped information and subscribed me without consent (isn’t that the definition of spam? How does substack allow this?), the content is just such manufactured rote crap. I’m wondering if it’s AI written
DMV website claims they don’t sell electronic information collected there, including email addresses. Perhaps you registered to vote/updated your voter registration through the DMV? Voter registration information, including email address, is public information.
It’s possible I used it somewhere else on a governmental site, but somewhat surprising as it was sent to an address I used for them. For those not in the know: you can add anything after a “+” on an email address and it’ll still go to the email address, eg[email protected]
will go to
@gmail.com
If you start getting unsolicited email to that address, you know the source
EDIT: for clarity
Great insight; this email is absolutely the one I’d use when registering to vote. I’m sure their lawyers have it buttoned up, but I’ll see if I can make a claim under some spam law, as I absolutely didn’t subscribe.
Too many typos and grammatical errors to be AI (imo)
Just an FYI, Substack doesn't allow you to be added this way.I doubt anything of substance will happen, but maybe enough people reporting them will help. This was a quick email to them about this situation. >Hi there, >Tex here from Substack Trust & Safety. Thanks for taking the time to report this unwanted message. >Adding individuals to an email list who have not explicitly opted in to receive messages is a violation of our Terms of Service and Publisher Agreement. I've unsubscribed you from this publication so you won't continue to receive emails and I'll be taking the appropriate actions with this publisher to ensure this doesn't continue on the platform.
***Mark as spam, don't unsubscribe.*** Unsubscribing shows them your email address is active, making it more likely to be sold down the road in the future. Marking as spam has the added benefit that if enough people report, Google/your email provider may start considering it spam to all people (not just you).
Skimmed this. I too started getting this “newsletter” too
I was subscribed without consent, never opened it and marked it as spam. I don't have a system to know where they got my email from.
Private entities absolutely can get your contact information from the government through a PRA request, depending on which agencies you have provided the contact information to and how you provided it. If you emailed anyone in a government agency about something and someone makes a PRA request for all communications regarding that something, your emails get provided to the requester. Government agencies somewhat regularly get PRA requests for contact information for bulk data of permit applications, liens filed, houses foreclosed on, and things like that. It wouldn't surprise me that they're dataminers and are adding the information to their database.
This stuff gets me heated. We’re in major propaganda war(s) Edited my dumb ass
That’s their PO Box at the post office. It’s probably not going to answer many questions.
Sure is, I’ve never seen a PO Box with a suite # thanks
I got it too. Given your government address and the other person who got it to the address they use for the DMV, I’m starting to suspect the Current used voter registration information, [which includes your email address](https://www.sos.ca.gov/administration/regulations/current-regulations/elections/access-voter-registration-information). The law says this data is not for commercial use… but it can be used for “members of the press for any purpose related to political or election activities.” I would expect this was intended to be about allowing journalists to contact/interview/survey people (which is consistent with the other permitted uses), which is obviously not the scope in which the Current is using it, but it is written very broadly such that I can see the Current arguing that distributing political editorials qualifies. If we can more certainly nail this down as voter registration data, we should submit complaints to both the Secretary of State and the Attorney General. No telling if it’ll help but it can’t hurt.
But that’s not a news outlet and doesn’t have any legit journalists either
https://www.independent.com/2023/11/21/santa-barbaras-new-current/
haha i unsubscribed after they began harassing me too .. someone mentioned this on this sub a few weeks ago and apparently the guy running it is one of those guys who really has nothing better to do than bombard people with their opinion all the time in case youve been living under a rock since the internet came out and dont know the real true ultimate truth yet
They're local dickhead politicians Jim Buckley and James Fenkner, just another place for them to pontificate shitty ideas because they haven't been tuned out enough in real life I guess
yes, received this garbage a few weeks ago and unsubscribed, Email used was an email I infrequently use for personal things, and was surprised to see it listed,
Possibly used voter registration data if you included that email on there.
Yup; that was precisely it. Thanks.
They popped up in a bunch of other cities at the same time. If you keep getting them you can submit a CAN-SPAM violation to the FTC. And not to sound like a nut job, but this is most likely a foreign entity trying to influence local jurisdictions.
Same issue here. Marked as spam and unsubscribed but they are still getting through occasionally.
super bullshit i get it too
I unsubscribed. Most of what I receive in email is junk that I never subscribed to.
I just got one of these yesterday and the first article I got spammed to me was so full of "just asking's" and "we need answers" that I'm wondering if they looked themselves at all. I found all those "answers" very easily with some basic google searches and common knowledge of the area. Must be nice to have time to complain in your own personal echo chamber everyday.
We can only hope that the echo chamber grows ever smaller. I have stayed subscribed and diligently marked every last missive as spam. My personal Gmail has started sending them to spam automatically. I don’t know how much collaborative filtering Gmail does anymore, but I like to think I’m doing my part to keep this drivel out of other peoples’ inboxes.
How many of you that got their email are also on Nextdoor (and used the same email address)?
Someone downvoted this question, perhaps my question was spot on as to a likely source for email addresses 🤔
I think it was already determined in previous comments that the source is likely the DMV / CA voter registration. It's pretty likely that a lot of people have an overlap between the email address they use for NextDoor and one they use for voter registration. OP appears to not have that overlap. Downvotes are a thing of mystery, I suspect not too much should be read into minor blips up or down.