Executive summary: the Democrats are handing out people’s phone numbers to anybody who feels like phone banking for them.  Specifically, they’re handing out people’s full names, city and state, gender, age, political affiliation, and phone number.  Presumably, these would be people who contributed to either OfA or the Democrats generally – which means that these are people with credit cards.  In other words, this is identity-theft softcore pr0n.

Safeguards?  Ha!

This is NOT standard practice for political parties.  When a party has a volunteer work their phone bank, they typically have the phone bank worker sign documentation (paper or digitally), usually stating that they won’t misuse the information to which they are being granted access.  The phone bank typically controls access either with a password account if the system is online, or by physically limiting access to where they have the phone bank if it’s an office style set-up.  You don’t just let any person wander in off the street, rifle through your voter files and make calls on your behalf.

But that’s just what the DNC and OfA are doing here.

True, it’s a cherished tradition in American cultural life that actions should have consequences, but throwing 25 bucks to a plausible-sounding flim-flam man in 2008 probably shouldn’t put you at risk at having your identity stolen in 2010.  Or even having your name and relevant info put in a robocall spammer database.  Although the Democrats clearly disagree; and I bet that nobody involved with this program is in the database…

Moe Lane (crosspost)

PS: If you’re a Democrat who doesn’t see why this is a big deal, then you need to stop and think.  Seriously. This is one time where thinking like a paranoid and a conspiracy theorist would actually be helpful for a change…