Rhode Island
GoLocalProv | News | RI Government Using Vendor to Send Tens of Thousands of Unsolicited Texts
Monday, June 12, 2023
PHOTO: Jonas Leupe/Unsplash
Raising questions of privacy, the Rhode Island Department of Health is using a third-party vendor to obtain Rhode Islanders’ cell phone contact information.
The reason, according to RIDOH, is to let Rhode Islanders know they can have free naloxone delivered to their houses, in an effort to combat the opioid crisis.
There have been more than 860 overdose deaths in Rhode Island over the past two years, according to RIDOH data.
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The company hired is a local Democratic political consulting firm – Systems Change Strategies – that has done work for David Cicilline, State Senator Josh Miller, and State Representative Tina Spears.
The text states it is being sent by a Department of Health employee, but that is not true – it is from the political consulting firm.
Rhode Islanders have been receiving text messages — like the following below — delivered unsolicited to their phones:
This is Mike from the Rhode Island Department of Health.
Did you know that 24 people in Providence have experienced an overdose in the last week?
You can be ready to save a life by getting FREE naloxone (also known as Narcan®) at this link: preventoverdoseri.us/l/kNEb6
Naloxone is a medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose, including ones caused by fentanyl or heroin.
There can be fentanyl in many common drugs, including coke, crack, meth, oxys, percs, and addies. Even a very small amount of fentanyl can be deadly.
We all have a role to play in ending the overdose crisis. What’s yours?
Privacy Questions
While the campaign raises privacy questions, the sending of unsolicited text messages is not illegal in Rhode Island.
The Department’s spokesperson Joseph Wendelken says the campaign is not a violation of health confidentiality standards like the federal law HIPPA.
“No one’s health information is collected or shared as part of this campaign. This is a broad awareness effort, based solely on geography. Everyone in a community receives the same message. People always have the ability to opt out of the campaign,” said Wendelken.
Wendelken did not answer whether this campaign constituted “spam.”
The Federal Trade Commission regulates text phone spam, and suggests, “Your phone may have an option to filter and block spam or messages from unknown senders. Here’s how to filter and block messages on an iPhone and how to block a phone number on an Android phone.”
Cost and Effectiveness
Wendelken said the effort is being supported by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and $48,959.49 has been spent to date on alerts.
But one report is that one portion of the campaign cost $17,000 and generated 166 nalaxone requests — costing taxpayers more than $100 per request.
PHOTO: “Sales Campaign Approach”
NEXT Distro, Unsplash
Wendelken said the approach of contacting Rhode Islanders — who have not “opted-in” to be contacted — to that of a “sales campaign,” and that it is “related to an increase in overdose activity identified in Providence.”
“This is part of a campaign we launched earlier this year,” said Wendelken. “The aim of the campaign is awareness, both about increases in overdose activity locally, and awareness about naloxone. We want people to have naloxone on hand, especially if they or someone they know uses drugs.”
The campaign contacts Rhode Islanders according to their zip code, according to Wendelken.
“For many years we have been sending alerts to local leadership, first responders, harm reduction organizations, and others,” said Wendelken of providing the latest overdose numbers to members of the first responders and healthcare communities.
“We are now looking to reach people directly, via postal mail and text messages,” said Wendelken. “A vendor we are working with purchases address and contact information for people by ZIP code, in the same way that advocacy campaigns acquire people’s information for outreach, or like how companies acquire consumer information for sales campaigns.”
While the text message provides a link to the website to sign up to receive the naloxone, recipients of the texts cannot receive any additional information regarding the campaign by responding to the text.
There is a “stop” button at the bottom of the text to “quit.”
If one texts back to ask questions, they do not respond and the company does not identify itself.
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