Effective Date: April 2, 2020
VoteAmerica is a nonpartisan, nonprofit entity that is dedicated to increasing voter turnout in US elections. VoteAmerica is referred to below as “Company,” “we,” “our,” “us”. We respect your privacy and are committed to protecting it through compliance with this policy.
This Privacy Policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you provide when you visit and use the VoteAmerica website at www.voteamerica.org, or other software, applications or websites operated by us (collectively, the “Service”), and how we store, use, disclose and protect such information. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected through the Service (including email, text or other electronic messaging between you and the Service) and not to information collected elsewhere (through any offline source or third party, including any state or local voter registration website that that may link to or be accessible from our Service).
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, your choice is not to use our Service. By accessing or using the Service, you agree to this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time (see Changes to our Privacy Policy). Your continued use of our Service after we make changes is deemed to be acceptance of those changes, so please check the Privacy Policy periodically for updates.
We collect personal information from users of our Service that identifies you as an individual when it is voluntarily provided by you, such as your name, address, telephone number and email address.
We automatically collect browsing information and other information from users of our Service that does not identify you as an individual, but may identify your device, such as information about your browsing activities and information about the devices you use to access the Service.
This information is collected to provide, manage, analyze and improve the features and functions available on or through the Service, for academic research and studies, and for our internal business purposes.
We also collect personal information from individuals who wish to register to vote through the Service.
Information about our data collection is further described below.
Our Service is not intended for children under 13 years of age. No one under age 13 may provide any personal information to or on the Service. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are under 13, do not provide any information to us through the Service, use any of the interactive or public comment features of the Service or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13 without verification of parental consent, we will use all reasonable efforts to delete such information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at [email protected].
Some features of our Service (including personalized voter tools and voter registration) require you to provide personal information, including your name, address, telephone number and email address. If you use the voter registration features you will also be asked to provide information required by state and local voter registrars to complete your registration. This may include your driver’s license or other state identification number, social security number, citizenship status, gender, political party, and birth date. If you are between the ages of 13 and 18 and wish to use our voter pledge feature, you will be asked to provide your name, address, telephone number, email address and birth date. You can refuse to supply this information, but doing so may prevent you from completing your voter registration or using certain Service features. You may review and make changes to your personal information by emailing your request to [email protected].
We may collect information automatically about your use of the Service. We collect this information to better understand how visitors use the Service. We may also collect technical information for fraud prevention and diagnostic purposes. The amount and type of information we gather depends on the nature of your interaction with the Service, and may include the type and language of the operating system (OS) running on your device, Internet protocol (IP) address, browser type, the website you visited just before ours, information and metadata about your activity while using the Service and location-based services data.
We use the information we collect, including personally identifiable information and non-personally identifiable information, to: (i) operate, maintain, and improve the Service, or other products, services, or features; (ii) assist with voter registration, polling place lookup or voter pledge support at user’s request; (iii) provide user education and support; (iv) respond to comments and questions or contact users at their request; (v) verify voter information and eligibility; (vi) participate in academic research and studies relating to voter behavior; (vii) contact you for voter registration, polling place information or academic research purposes; (viii) combine user information with other personal information about users from other sources; (ix) investigate, deter, and protect against fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activity; (x) create analytical information based on aggregated user data concerning potential voter trends; (xi) contract or partner with third parties to provide specialized services on our behalf, such as development, hosting, analytics, maintenance, message delivery, platform technology providers, and other services relating to the operation of the Service; (xii) test, research, and analyze our Services; (xiii) help maintain the safety, security, and integrity of our Service, databases and other technology assets, and business; and (xiv) execute any other purpose disclosed to you at the time we collect or receive the information, or otherwise with your consent. You may opt out of receiving voter registration or polling place information, news, and/or research communications at any time by emailing your opt-out request to [email protected].
A cookie is a string of information that a website or application stores on a visitor’s computer or mobile device, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website/application each time the visitor returns. We may use cookies to track your sessions on the Service, the effectiveness of ads for the Service on third party social media sites (such as Facebook), or enable certain functionality. Service users who do not wish to have cookies placed on their computer or mobile device should set their browser to refuse cookies before using the Service, with the drawback that certain features of the Service may not function properly without the aid of cookies. For more information on cookies and how to disable cookies visit FTC.gov internet cookie information or USA.gov opt-out instructions.
In addition to the tracking technologies we place, other companies may set their own cookies or similar tools when you visit our Service. These companies include third party analytics services, including but not limited to Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel and Mixpanel (collectively, “Analytics Services”) that we engage to help analyze how users use the Service. We may receive reports based on these parties’ use of these tools on an individual or aggregate basis. We use the information we get from Analytics Services only to improve our Service. The Analytics Services may also transfer information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process analytics information on their behalf. Each Analytics Services’ ability to use and share analytics information is restricted by such Analytics Services’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. By using our Service, you consent to the processing of your information by Analytics Services in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
Generally, we disclose your personal information only to our employees, contractors, agents, service providers, state and local election offices and voter registrars, university researchers and third-party analytic services that: (i) need to know such information to process it on our behalf or to provide services available on the Service; and (ii) that have agreed not to disclose it to others. However, we may also disclose your information, including personal information and non-personal information, in certain other circumstances, as described below. We share certain personal information (name, address, phone number and email) with partner voter organizations to verify or update their voter registrations. The above excludes text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.
If we believe in good faith that disclosure of your personal information is legally required or reasonably needed to (i) verify your voter registration eligibility and information; (ii) respond to a subpoena, court order, or other governmental request, or (ii) protect our property or rights, or those of any third party or the public at large, we will disclose the information.
From time to time, we may provide anonymized user information (i.e., information with any personally identifiable information removed) or aggregated user information (i.e., data on groups of users not identifying any individual user) to third-party analytic services, to operate, maintain, or improve the Service, our products, or our services. We may also share anonymized and/or aggregated user information with our contractors, service providers, analytics services, purchasers of aggregated customer data, and third parties to whom disclosure is required by law (e.g., to comply with a subpoena or court order).
If we go out of business or enter bankruptcy, user information may be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. By using the Service, you acknowledge and agree that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of our Company may continue to use your personal information as set forth in this policy.
We take reasonable measures to protect against the unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction of personal information. However, it remains possible that third parties may unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications and may abuse or misuse your personal information that they collect from the Service. Although we work hard to protect your privacy, we cannot guarantee that your personal information or private communications will always remain private.
The Service may also contain features or links to websites and services provided by third parties that we do not operate and are outside of our control. Any personal information you provide on these third party sites or services is provided directly to that third party and is subject to that third party's policies, if any, governing privacy and security, even if accessed through the Service. Please exercise caution and review their applicable privacy and security policies before providing them with Personal information.
We use Facebook and other social media sites for social media advertising of the Service. Facebook may provide you with the ability to opt-out of certain advertising practices. See Facebook's help center for additional information. However, we are unable to control Facebook's practices or disclosures. To opt-out of data collection by other social media services, you should review that provider's privacy practices.
We do not track our customers’ personal information over time and across third-party websites, and so do not interpret, respond to, or alter our practices when we receive Do Not Track signals. Please note that third parties may collect personal information about your online activities over time and across different websites when you visit the Service or other online websites and services. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” you may wish to visit All About Do Not Track.
Registered users of the Service who are California residents and are under 18 years of age may request and obtain removal of postings on the Service that they themselves post by emailing us at [email protected]. All requests must be labeled “California Removal Request” on the email subject line. All requests must provide a description of the content or information in your posting that you want removed and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material. So that we can process your request and contact you if we have questions, include your name and the name and the URL (if applicable) of the website, application, or other interactive service where the information to be removed is located. We will not accept removal requests via postal mail, telephone, or facsimile. We are not responsible for notices that are not labeled or sent properly, and may not be able to respond if you do not provide complete information.
Please also note that any requests for removal do not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information from the Service. For example, content that you have posted may be republished or reposted by another user or third party.
We may retain your data for as long as we believe there is a business, legal or security reason for doing so, even if you are no longer an active customer.
The Service is hosted in the United States and is intended solely for visitors located within the United States. If you choose to use the Service from the European Union or other regions of the world with laws governing data collection and use that may differ from U.S. law, then please note that you are transferring your personally identifiable information outside of those regions to the United States for storage and processing, and by providing your personally identifiable information on the Service you consent to that transfer, storage, and processing. Please note that the United States does not have the same data protection laws as the European Union and other regions.
By choosing to visit our Service, you agree that any dispute over privacy or the terms contained in this Privacy Policy will be governed by the law of the State of California, without reference to the choice of law or conflicts of law principles thereof, and will be subject to the dispute resolution clause contained in the terms of use applicable to the Services. You also agree to abide by any limitation on damages contained in the terms of use of our Services.
We may change our Privacy Policy from time to time at our sole discretion. The most recent version of our Privacy Policy will always be accessible via our homepage at https://about.voteamerica.org/privacy/. We encourage you to regularly check this page for any changes to our Privacy Policy.
Please contact us with any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, your Personal Information, our use and disclosure practices, or your consent choices by e-mail at [email protected]. You may also contact us at the following address:
VoteAmerica 530 Divisadero Street PMB 126 San Francisco, CA 94117