Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Account information

• Name and email address
• Sign-in credentials (email and password, Google Sign-In, or Apple Sign-In)
• Profile picture and username, if you add them

Address and location

We collect your street address, city, state, and ZIP code to find your council district, your representatives, the bills that apply to you, and your elections. We derive map coordinates from that address. We do not collect real-time GPS location.

Identity verification

To vote, co-sign, or propose, you verify your identity with our provider, Persona. Persona collects a photo of your government ID and a selfie and checks that they match. We receive the result of the check and the name and address on the ID. We do not store your ID images.

What you tell us about yourself (optional)

You can tell us what you know well (your work or field) so we can show you bills on that topic, and you can add age, gender, ethnicity, education, and profession. All of this is optional.

Activity

• Your votes on bills and proposals, and the proposals you write or co-sign
• Comments you post
• Messages you send to elected officials through the Service
• Friend invites you send or accept

Usage and device information

We collect push notification tokens, basic device information (device type and operating system), and records of how you use the app (for example, which screens you open and which features you use) so we can find bugs and improve the Service.

2. How We Use Your Information

• Provide the Service: your daily bills, your representatives, your elections, and proposals in your area
• Confirm you are a real person who lives in the district you vote and co-sign in
• Draft and summarize proposals and bills with AI tools, based on what you write
• Send reports to elected officials (see section 3)
• Send push notifications about activity relevant to you
• Process payments
• Prevent abuse, fake accounts, and duplicate signatures
• Understand how the Service is used and improve it

3. What Elected Officials See

Reports. We send reports to elected officials' offices about what residents of their district support. These reports contain counts only, such as "12 verified residents of District 4 co-signed this proposal". A proposal or bill is only included once at least 5 residents of that district are behind it. Reports never include your name, email, phone number, or address.

Messages you choose to send. If you message an official through the Service, we email your message to their office with your name and email address so they can reply to you directly.

Public proposals. Proposals you publish are public. They are shown under your name unless you choose to post anonymously.

4. Service Providers

We share information with these providers only to operate the Service:

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.

5. Simulations, Forecasts, and Research

Your votes and positions are part of PollSee's simulations: models of how a district or zip code is likely to respond to a bill, a message, or a decision. We use them to forecast legislation in the app, and organizations such as campaigns, companies, and government offices pay to run simulations and forecasts on the areas they care about.

Simulations are built from district- and zip-code-level groups, never from individuals, and nothing is reported for a group smaller than five. No name, contact detail, individual position, or voting record ever leaves the Service in anything we publish or sell.

6. Data Storage and Security

Your data is stored on Firebase (Google Cloud) servers in the United States. We use encrypted connections (TLS) and secure sign-in. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Data Retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. If you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal data within 30 days, except where the law requires us to keep it.

Votes and comments on public proposals may stay visible after you delete your account, but they will no longer be linked to you.

8. Your Rights and Choices

• Access your data by viewing your profile and record in the app
• Update your information in your account settings
• Delete your account in the app (Settings → Delete account) or by emailing us
• Turn off push notifications in your device settings
• Leave out any optional information

California residents (CCPA)

If you live in California, you have the right to know what personal information we collect, ask us to delete it, and opt out of its sale. We do not sell personal information.

9. Children's Privacy

The Service is not for anyone under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that a child under 13 has given us personal information, we will delete it promptly.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make a material change, we will post the new policy here and update the "Last updated" date. If you keep using the Service after a change is posted, you accept the updated policy.

11. Contact Us

For questions about this policy, or to exercise your data rights, contact us at:

Email: shruti@itspollsee.org
Website: itspollsee.org