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Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

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Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#321

Post by threeio »

yborg wrote: post #250
jbaber wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait. Really? I had no idea this is true. You're saying there's a US law that means replying STOP is intercepted by verizon/T-mobile/etc. and the sender never has to see it?

This is not correct, I've worked with an app that had to handle SMS opt-out and we received the STOP message.

This -- Stop is required action, but its passed to the vendor for management -- non-compliance is punishable by loss of shortcode/carrier acceptance.

Things may have changed since, but used to work sending 8m sms messages before breakfast every day to people who subscribed to news, sports scores, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#322

Post by nraynaud »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #290
iamthepieman wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even worse if someone else signs up somehow using your contact info. I got signed up (via email thankfully) for a political party in another country and no amount of "mark as spam", unsubscribe or replying would get me off the list. Eventually I just had to create a filter that dumps those messages in the trash. It must be something with non-U.S. English speaking countries because I get numerous semi-spam messages in…

My wife had someone do sign up for a bank account with my wife's gmail address. She told the bank they got it wrong, and they went away for a bit and then they re-signed up AGAIN. So she told the bank to close the account. It didn't re-occur after that. A number of elderly folks have had this issue as well. I'm really at a loss on how to fix it, some times there are bad actors but generally it seems folks are clueles…

I had that happen, but I couldn’t fix it because I couldn’t prove I was a customer, since I wasn’t.

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#323

Post by adastra22 »

jbaber wrote: post #148
jeremyjh wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its true in the US; its mandated by law that they comply.

Wait. Really? I had no idea this is true. You're saying there's a US law that means replying STOP is intercepted by verizon/T-mobile/etc. and the sender never has to see it?

If it is sent as an actual SMS, yes. Not if it goes through Apple messages or whatever.

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#324

Post by adastra22 »

brookst wrote: post #156
adastra22 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see how there could be an argument for protected speech here. The constitution protects your ability to petition the government, not the government's ability to petition you.

I don’t know if the claim is true, but if it is, it’s likely an intentional loophole because the people writing the laws would want to exempt themselves.

Yes this is what happened. There are specific carve outs for various uses that don’t fall under the legal definition of “spam.” Of course political advertising is one of them.

Just like for the longest time it wasn’t insider trading if you were a politician.

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#325

Post by aendruk »

sharpshadow wrote: post #169
redserk wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actblue requires a phone number and email address. As far as I know, physically mailing a check is the best way to avoid sharing information as you only need to provide your name, address, and employer. This information is the only federally required information.

What would happen if you type in a pseudo email and number? What would happen if you type in a number of somebody else?

Hi, somebody else here. From experience, please don’t do that.

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#326

Post by pixelatedindex »

dspillett wrote: post #159
pixelatedindex wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wanted to say that I find it curious that you have to text “UNSTOP” and not something like “START”, lol

There probably is a START instruction internally, but it won't take action against a number for which there has been a previous STOP. So UNSTOP acts like FORCE START.

But then you can have… RESTART?

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#327

Post by willcipriano »

dqv wrote: post #294
willcipriano wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but the courts really don't like people who don't follow the instructions If you contact me without my consent I now have to follow your instructions to stop your harassment? Nonsense.

No, this is specifically for the case of someone intentionally signing up to receive the texts first. Had they been unsolicited, the outcome would have been the exact opposite. The take away is don’t sign up for SMS spam, send obtuse opt out messages, and then expect a payday in court.

> No, this is specifically for the case of someone intentionally signing up to receive the texts first.

How do they know I consented vs the person who had the number prior to me? I recieve texts I didn't sign up for all the time for companies I've never heard of for people with names and addresses that are different than mine.

I really feel the burden of consent should be on the sender vs the receiver.

Think of it this way, the receiver must carefully read what they have received in order to correctly opt out but the sender can just run a regex for "STOP" and call it a day. The more difficult burden should be on the sender. They should have to validate every message received to see if it is requesting to opt out. Put another way, the consent is retracted even if your regex didn't detect it.

When it comes to sex consent doesn't work that way; "She didn't say the safeword I texted her a year ago your honor so I had consent!"

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#328

Post by aendruk »

1a527dd5 wrote: post #112

For those in the UK you can forward to 7726 to report it [1] [1] https://www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishin...

Also, https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/stop-unwanted-robocalls...:

  # Political Robotexts
  
  If you are receiving texts that you didn’t ask for, report the sender by
  forwarding the texts to 7726 (or "SPAM").

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#329

Post by yakovsi »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #42
tomasreimers wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can check if a number is using Twilio via a special number: https://www.twilio.com/en-us/blog/lookup-phone-carrier-recor... .

Or a site like https://www.freecarrierlookup.com/ which works for every number

Twilio has a concept of "hosting a number", meaning, the original carrier retains the number, only SMS is handled by Twilio. So parent's link will be more accurate for this application.

Re: Ask HN: Should you reply STOP to unwanted texts?

#330

Post by Aloisius »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #214
coldpie wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay. But if your goal is to reduce the amount of spam you receive, and if one group of senders responds to opt-out signals as an indicator to send more spam while the other group responds to opt-out signals as an indicator to send less spam, then the distinction matters, regardless of how you feel about it. > I really wish SMS and iMessage had a way to mark senders as spammers. On my iOS phone in the US, there is a…

That report junk feature doesn’t do anything much. It only sends Apple the report, not your carrier. You will notice it also only appears on some messages - I think contacts that have not messaged you before. To report people properly and actually improve the messaging experience for everyone, you have to follow the steps I mentioned in my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41704119

> It only sends Apple the report, not your carrier.

Depending on your carrier and country or region, reporting spam you receive with SMS, MMS, or RCS shares this information with your carrier and its affiliates.

https://support.apple.com/en-sg/guide/iphone/iph203ab0be4/io...

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