Clear the lists. Earn permission.

01 THE PRIVACY RESET

1. 01 / RESET EXISTING LISTS

   Clear the old lists and earn consent from scratch.

   Set a deadline. By that date, every campaign, party, advocacy group, public office running voter outreach, and data broker should clear out its old outreach lists and public-facing personal directories. Keep an entry only if you can prove that the person affirmatively opted in to that named organization, specific use, and channel, and that the permission still applies. Keep only the information needed for the permission given. A purchased list, voter roll, prechecked box, or failure to unsubscribe provides no proof.

   Want people back on your list? Pay for public advertising yourself. Put up a public signup page. Tell people what you want to send, and let them decide whether to come to you. Use public ads, signs, or events to invite fresh opt-ins. The reset bars using old lists for direct requests to renew permission or uploading them to ad platforms to target the same people.

   Make the organization delete unconsented entries from active files and exports, require its vendors to do the same, and certify the purge. Apply deletions before restoring any backup to an active system. Keep legally required records and any minimum information needed to honor a refusal in a separate, restricted system used only for that purpose. Put the cost of cleanup and proof on the organization that built or used the list.

2. 02 / CONTACT

   Ask before contacting me about voting.

   Cover calls, texts, email, targeted mail and outreach to a household based on voter data. Apply the same rule to candidates, parties, PACs, advocacy groups, contractors, and optional voter reminders from public offices. Require a separate, affirmative choice for the named sender, purpose, and channel. Keep silence, registration, voting history, party membership and prior donations out of the consent decision.

   Every message should identify the sender, the reason for the contact, and how and when permission was given. People can withdraw permission at any time. Keep polling information publicly available and strictly separate any legally required individual notice or response to a requested service from outreach.

3. 03 / PUBLIC DATA

   Keep personal information private unless I opt in.

   Make privacy the default across public-facing government databases, bulk files, commercial data brokers, and people-search listings. Shield home addresses, personal phone and email, full birth dates, and voting histories tied to a name. Require a specific choice to publish personal information and limit it to the fields and purpose the person agreed to.

   Keep aggregate turnout, government decisions, and records of official conduct available. Limit any legally required access to identifiable records to what the law and oversight actually need. Protect the ability to register and vote without consenting to publicity or contact. 05

4. 04 / REMOVAL

   Take down the information already exposed.

   Give people one way to request removal without hunting down every copy. Require a clear deadline, written confirmation, and a way to challenge a refusal. Make covered recipients stop redistributing and relisting the data, including when they obtain a fresh copy. Verify identity with the least information needed, and keep the removal request itself private.

   Require published compliance figures without names, independent oversight, and consequences for violations. California already gives its residents one request to send to registered commercial data brokers. Ohio can build on that approach for broker listings and create a separate route for records held by public agencies. 06

Legislation needs to preserve lawful election oversight and account for First Amendment protections, particularly for person-to-person political speech and canvassing. Candidates, parties, and advocacy groups can adopt the voluntary opt-in pledge today. 05