Overview

VoteValue is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that data. We are a nonpartisan civic engagement tool and do not use your data for political purposes or share it with campaigns.

Data We Collect

Address Information

When you enter an address to analyze, we process it to determine your political districts and representatives. We use the following services:

• Google Geocoding API: Converts addresses to geographic coordinates
• Google Places API: Provides address autocomplete functionality

Caching

To improve performance and reduce API costs, we cache geocoding results locally. Cached data includes:

• Addresses you've searched (stored temporarily)
• Corresponding geographic coordinates
• District information for those locations

Cache data is stored for up to 7 days and is automatically deleted after this period.

Usage Data

We collect anonymous usage statistics to improve our service, including:

• Number of analyses performed
• General geographic regions (state level only)
• Error rates and performance metrics

This data is aggregated and cannot be used to identify individual users.

Data We Do NOT Collect

• Your name, email, or contact information
• IP addresses (beyond rate limiting)
• Political affiliations or voting history
• Browser fingerprints or tracking cookies
• Any personally identifiable information

Third-Party Services

VoteValue uses the following third-party services, each with their own privacy policies:

• Google Maps Platform: For geocoding and maps (Privacy Policy)
• US Census Bureau: For population and demographic data (Privacy Policy)
• Open States: For legislative district data (About)
• MIT Election Lab: For election data (Website)

Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your data:

• All connections use HTTPS encryption
• API keys are stored securely and never exposed to clients
• Rate limiting prevents abuse
• Cached data is stored locally and not shared externally

Your Rights

Since we don't collect personal information, there is no personal data to access, correct, or delete. However, you can:

• Use the service without creating an account
• Clear your browser's local storage to remove any client-side data
• Contact us with any privacy concerns

Cookies and Local Storage

VoteValue uses minimal browser storage:

• Session storage: Temporary data cleared when you close your browser
• No tracking cookies: We do not use advertising or analytics cookies
• No third-party trackers: We do not embed social media or advertising scripts

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last modified" date. Continued use of the service after changes constitutes acceptance of the new policy.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, please open an issue on our GitHub repository.