For our Spanish version of this privacy policy please click here – in the case of discrepancy between our Spanish and English versions of our policy, the English version will prevail. Haga click aquí para acceder a nuestra Política de Privacidad en castellano. En caso de discrepancia entre las versiones inglesa y castellana, la versión en inglés prevalecerá.
Democracy Works, Inc. (“we” or “us”) is committed to protecting the privacy of users of our various websites and applications. This privacy policy is intended to cover all of our websites and applications, including without limitation the following:
TurboVote: Our website available at turbovote.org and its respective subdomains, and other websites, software applications and partner-built sites or applications, including those that integrate with our services, which may contain a link to this Policy; and a web-based application and service that generates voter registration forms and ballot request forms, provides referrals to online voter registration portals, generates web pages as well as email and text message notifications about upcoming election dates, deadlines, and other information about the voting process, and otherwise helps facilitate the process of voter registration and voting for users of TurboVote (the “TurboVote Services”).
TurboVote Preregister to Vote: An aspect of our TurboVote Services that allows future voters between the ages of 13 and 17 to opt-in for reminders to register to vote as soon as they are eligible to do so in their state (the “TurboVote Preregister to Vote Services”).
Democracy Works Elections Data Schema-Compliant Web Pages: Our website available at https://voting.democracy.works/ and its respective subdomains, and other websites, software applications and partner-built sites or applications, including those that integrate with our services, which may contain a link to this Policy; and a web-based application and service that provides a summary of voter registration and voting rules, deadlines and advice for thousands of federal, state and local elections as well as all 50 states and the District of Columbia, helping to facilitate the process of voter registration and voting for users of Democracy Works Elections Data Schema-Compliant Web Pages (the “Democracy Works Elections Data Schema-Compliant Web Pages”).
Ballot Scout: Our website available at democracy.works/ballot-scout, app.ballotscout.org, and its and their respective subdomains, and successors, and an application and service that enables election offices to add USPS intelligent mail barcodes to absentee ballot envelopes, and tracks those ballots and envelopes through their lifespan (the “Ballot Scout Services”).
Votes & Ballots: Our website available at democracy.works/votesandballots and its respective subdomains, and a set of programs and services targeted at assisting universities to identify applicable resources and create action plans for engaging their constituent voters (the “Votes & Ballots Services”).
ElectionMail.org: Our website available at ElectionMail.org and its respective subdomains, and a set of services targeted at enabling election officials to report issues or problems with official election mail processed by the United States Postal Service (the “Election Mail Services”).
Voting Information Project: Our website available at votinginfoproject.org and its respective subdomains, and a set of services targeted at working with states to provide official information to voters about where to vote, what’s on their ballots, and how to navigate the voting process (the “VIP Services”).
Each of the TurboVote Services, Ballot Scout Services, Votes & Ballots Services, Election Mail Services and VIP Services and Democracy Works Elections Data Schema-Compliant Web Pages Services are referred to collectively herein as the “Services” and the websites associated with the Services are referred to herein as the “Sites.” We have established this privacy policy (this “Policy”) to describe what information we collect and how we use it in relation to the Sites and the Services. You should read this Policy together with each respective set of Terms of Service for each of the Services (collectively, the “Terms of Service”), which describes the rules you need to follow to use the Sites or the Services, and under what conditions we agree to permit such use.
Please note that some of the Services use ancillary tools with their own respective privacy policies, and information you provide through such tools is not governed by this Policy. An example of this is that you can access certain VIP Services tools, such as Get To The Polls and the VIP Voting Information Tool, through links provided on the VIP Services website. Information you provide through those tools is not governed by this Privacy Policy.
Certain of our Services contain links to other sites and partnering organizations; we are not responsible for the privacy practice of those sites or organizations, and we recommend you read their privacy policies for further information.
We collect personal information from users to provide and improve the Sites and the Services. We share and use such information as described in this Policy. We do not sell our users’ information. Details of these practices are outlined below in this Policy.
If you have any questions about our privacy practices or this Policy, please contact us at privacy@democracy.works.
Please read below for our complete Policy and check this page periodically for alterations or amendments—we may modify this Policy at any time. Changes to this Policy are effective when they are posted in the form of an updated Policy on this page, and your continued use of the Sites or our Services constitutes acceptance of any modified terms.
This Policy, together with our Terms of Service, is a binding contract between you and us. Do not use our Sites or our Services or provide us with information if you do not agree with all of the terms.
Information We Gather
WHEN YOU VISIT OUR SITES
We use analytical tools to monitor traffic and visitor trends on our Sites. This monitoring occurs whether or not you have signed up to become a user of our Sites or our Services, and we may record basic information, including, for example, your IP address, referral source, browser type, clickstream data, mouse clicks, amount of time spent on a Site or Service, and the date and time of your visit. Our Sites do not currently respond to a “Do-Not-Track” notice in a user’s browser.
We also collect technical information about the platforms on which you are using our Sites and our Services and may use technology tools (such as cookies, beacons, pixel tags, scripts, or similar technology) to make the Sites and the Services easier to use by saving information while you use the Sites and Services.
COOKIES, WEB BEACONS, PIXEL TAGS
What are cookies and web beacons / pixel tags? A cookie is a small text file that a Site or Service saves onto your computer or device when you use a Site or Service that provides us certain information about your activities. Cookies allow a Site or Service to remember your actions and preferences and recognize you or your browser. Web beacons / pixel tags are small graphics on a webpage that monitor your activity when viewing a webpage.
How long do Cookies last? A Cookie can either be a “session” Cookie or a “persistent” Cookie. Session Cookies exist only for so long as you are visiting the applicable Site and are typically deleted when you exit your web browser. Persistent Cookies exist for a set period of time, for example, up to several months or years. Each time you visit a Site or Service that has implemented a persistent Cookie, the persistent Cookie is renewed and that Cookie will remain active until its predetermined expiration date. You can manually delete persistent Cookies through your browser settings.
First-party versus third-party Cookies. Cookies may either be “first-party” or “third-party” Cookies. A first-party Cookie allows your web browser to talk to the actual Site or Service that you are visiting. A third-party Cookie allows your web browser to talk to a third-party website, such as the source of an ad that appears on the website you are visiting or a third-party analytics provider. We do not have control over how information gathered by third-party Cookies is used by third parties.
How do you manage Cookies or opt-out? Most browsers automatically accept cookies. You can disable this function by changing your browser settings, but disabling cookies may impact your use and enjoyment of a Site or Service. Not all features or functions of the Sites or Services may work properly if you disable Cookies. You cannot disable all Cookies, such as Cookies that are essential to the functioning of the Sites and Services.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS
We use Google Analytics and other similar technologies to collect and process information about your use of the Sites and Services. Google sets cookies on your browser or device, and then your web browser will automatically send information to Google. Google uses this information to provide us with reports that we use to better understand and measure how users interact with our Sites and Services.
We may also implement additional add-on services to Google Analytics, such as Demographics and Interest Reporting, Remarketing with Google Analytics, and Google Display Network Impression Reporting.
To learn more about how Google uses data, visit Google’s Privacy Policy and Google’s page on “How Google uses data when you use our partners’ sites or apps.” You may download the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on for each web browser you use, but this does not prevent the use of other analytics tools. To learn more about Google Analytics cookies, visit Google Analytics Cookie Usage on Websites.
WHEN YOU USE OUR SITE OR OUR SERVICES
When you use our Sites or our Services, or interact with us about your use of the Site or our Services, we gather and store the information about you that you provide to us. A non-exhaustive list of the types of information collected directly by each of our Services is set forth below:
TurboVote: Personally identifiable information, such as your name, address, email address, cell phone number, other identifying information as may be required for us to provide the TurboVote Services, as well as any other information you provide to us in user surveys, questionnaires, requests for feedback, or in communicating with us.
TurboVote Preregister to Vote: Personally identifiable information, such as your name, address, date of birth, email address, phone number, and other identifying information as may be required for us to provide to us in user surveys, questionnaires, requests for feedback, or in communicating with us.
Ballot Scout: When you opt-in to notifications about your ballot, we may collect and store your name, address, year of birth, and email address or phone number. The information you provide will be used to provide you with ballot notifications according to your request.
Votes & Ballots: We may collect your name, title, email, phone, and other contact information, your sponsoring organization name and its location, and a variety of other names of individuals from and within your sponsoring organization who carry various roles and responsibilities across the organization. We also collect various demographic information and details in an aggregated form, which helps us better provide the Votes & Ballots Services.
ElectionMail.org: When you submit a form through the ElectionMail.org Site, we collect your name, email, address, phone number, election jurisdiction, and various details regarding the issue being reported.
VIP: We may collect, use, and maintain personal information such as your name, email address, and other personal information if you voluntarily provide such information by contacting us using the contact information listed on the VIP Services’ website.
WHEN WE PARTNER WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS TO OFFER OUR SITE OR OUR SERVICES
When you sign up to become a user of our Sites or our Services through a partner-sponsored version of one of our Sites, a partner-built site or application, or another access method that we provided to an organization such as a government agency or entity, college or university, company, or nonprofit organization (each, a “Partner”), we may collect additional information related to your access to our Sites or Services through our Partner. For example, we may collect the Partner-specific URL link you may have used to access our Sites or our Services, or whether you opted in to receive additional communications from our Partner.
WHEN WE ARE WORKING TO PROVIDE OR IMPROVE OUR SITES OR OUR SERVICES
When we are working to provide or improve our Sites or our Services, we may gather additional information about you or your experience using the Sites or the Services that may help us to measure the effectiveness of our Sites and our Services and to work to improve them. We may also collect information about you from other sources, that we can combine with the information that you have already provided to us. For example, we use databases of official voter registration files and election turnout records, as well as commercial sources of demographic and other information, and we periodically match our user data to these other records.
How We Use the Information We Gather
USE OF ANALYTICAL INFORMATION
We may use data gathered from our analytical tools and technical information we collect about the platforms on which you are using our Sites and our Services for the following purposes (among other similar purposes):
To know which portion of our Sites receive the most traffic over time
To know how many people visit the Sites on a given day
To help us improve the Sites and our Services
USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We may use your personal information for the following purposes (among other similar purposes):
To provide, maintain, and improve the Sites and the Services, including monitoring, analyzing and improving the usage, effectiveness, and user experience while using our Sites and Services.
To interact with you about the Sites or the Services, including communications or requests from you about the Sites or the Services.
To contact you, to confirm your current contact information, with informative updates related to the Sites or the Services, or with news, user experience survey requests, user research, marketing, or fundraising information relating to us, our mission, or our other services that may be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving communications from us by following the unsubscribe link or instructions that we provide in our communications. If you have provided us with consent, we may send you SMS messages regarding our products and services, upcoming elections, or other informational messages pertaining to the general business and practices of our business. We may send you such messages as frequently as we have updates or notifications that we believe may be pertinent to you, which cadence is likely to increase in proximity with elections potentially pertinent to you. With respect to SMS messaging for which you have provided us with consent to deliver to you, you can cancel the SMS service at any time. Just text "STOP" to the short code or SMS phone number. After you send the SMS message "STOP" to us, we will send you an SMS message to confirm that you have been unsubscribed. After this, you will no longer receive SMS messages from us. If you want to join again, just sign up as you did the first time and we will start sending SMS messages to you again.If you are experiencing issues with the SMS messaging program you can reply with the keyword HELP for more assistance, or you can get help directly at privacy@democracy.works.
Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.As always, message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to you from us and to us from you. If you have any questions about your text plan or data plan, it is best to contact your wireless provider.
SHARING OF YOUR INFORMATION
We may share information about our users in aggregate, anonymized format only, when we discuss the functioning of our Sites and our Services with the general public, our funders, and others.
We may share your personal information in the following situations:
With our third-party service providers, to monitor and analyze the use and effectiveness of our Sites or our Services, to help maintain, support, and improve our Sites and the Services, and to facilitate our contacting you in accordance with the contact consents that you have given us. We do not share any information with these service providers beyond what is necessary to provide you with their services. Our third-party service providers include (without limitation) the following (our third party service providers do change from time to time, so while we do our best to update this list, it may not always be up-to-date; if you have any questions about how we, or any of our service providers, use your information, or if you would like to know if we have made any changes to our service providers since the date of this privacy policy, please contact us at privacy@democracy.works):
Twilio: we use Twilio’s services to send text message notifications to which you have consented (which is also subject to Twilio’s privacy policy)
Amazon SES: we use Amazon's Simple Email Service (SES) to send email notifications (which are subject to Amazon’s data privacy policy)
SmartyStreets: we use SmartyStreets services to verify that your address meets USPS standards for deliverability (SmartyStreet's privacy policy)
Google Civic Info API: geocode users and provide polling place and ballot information in our notifications (which is subject to Google’s privacy policy)
MailChimp: send notification emails to customers and users (which is subject to MailChimp’s privacy policy)
PaperTrail: error and other technical logging (which is subject to PaperTrail’s privacy policy)
Civis Analytics: match users against state voter files, and for related data analytics (which is subject to Civis Analytics’ privacy policy)
Zendesk: digitized customer service (which is subject to Zendesk’s privacy policy)
Our security auditors and infrastructure providers
With our Partners, in accordance with the terms of our business, research, or collaboration agreements with such parties.
In relation to a business transfer, which may include a transfer of the Sites or the Services to any parent, subsidiary, or joint venture business affiliate of ours, or a potential or actual merger or acquisition partner.
With law enforcement, when we have a good-faith belief it is required by law, such as pursuant to a subpoena or other judicial or administrative order; to protect and defend our rights; to prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing with respect to the Sites or the Services; to protect the safety of the Sites or the Services, our property, our users, our staff, or the public; and to protect against legal liability. If we are required by law to disclose the information that you have submitted, we will attempt to provide you with notice (unless we are prohibited) that a request for your information has been made to give you an opportunity to object to the disclosure. We will attempt to provide this notice by email if you have given us an email address, or by postal mail if you have entered a postal address. If you do not challenge the disclosure request, we may be legally required to turn over your information.
With your election official, because Ballot Scout is a service provided in partnership between Democracy Works and official election administrators, if you are a customer of the Ballot Scout Services, your election official also has access to your personal data and general information about the Ballot Scout Services we provide you, and may contact you separately.
With certain organizations and agencies, in the case of Election Mail Services, including the United States Postal Service, the Election Center Postal Task Force, the National Association of Secretaries of State, and the National Association of State Election Directors. Please note that, while your entries are generally not disclosed publicly except in aggregate format (with individual contact information and local jurisdiction information withheld), the information provided through the Election Mail Services will feed directly into the USPS reporting system. The USPS system is potentially subject to any postal service FOIA requests and requirements.
Security
While our Site and our Services use industry-standard security measures to protect the information you provide to us both in storage and in transit, you should be aware that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Although we make good faith efforts to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee complete security. We shall not be responsible for any harm that you or any person may suffer as a result of a breach of confidentiality of any information you transmit to our Site or while using our Services.
Updating or Removing Your Information
We may continue to store your information until you specifically ask us to delete it. You may choose to collect, correct, update, or delete the user information you have submitted to us by contacting us at privacy@democracy.works. However, deleted information may persist in our backup files, or with our third-party services providers or our Partners if shared under the terms of this Policy.
Non-US Privacy
Use of our Sites and our Services is intended for voting-age adults eligible to vote in elections in the United States, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from non-US persons or from US persons subject to any non-US-based data privacy laws.
Children’s Privacy
Generally, our Sites and our Services are intended for voting-age adults, though we do offer some Services to children between the ages of 13 and 17. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age, and direct any such children under 13 years of age not to enroll in any of our Services. If you are a parent or legal guardian of a child under age 13 who you believe has submitted personal information to us, please contact us immediately at privacy@democracy.works.
Last updated August 26, 2024.
