1. Who we are and what this covers
CivicPolis is operated by CivicPolis LLC (“CivicPolis,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). This Policy explains how information is handled by our website, its interactive previews, and the current mobile application.
The website previews and mobile app work differently, as explained below. Neither currently requires a CivicPolis account. External websites, app stores, device platforms, and other providers have their own policies for their services. Naming a provider does not mean we control all of its practices.
Features and availability may change during development. We will update this notice and provide any legally required choice or consent before introducing materially different processing. Describing possible future changes does not authorize them in advance.
2. Information used by the website and app
Website previews
The website’s interactive previews keep quiz answers and simulated save selections in the page’s memory. The preview does not send those selections to CivicPolis or create an account. Reloading the page normally resets the preview. Your browser may preserve or restore a session under its own settings.
Delivering the website still involves ordinary internet requests. Hosting and network services may process your IP address, requested page or asset, browser information, timestamps, and related security information.
Information saved by the mobile app
The current app saves the location you enter, preferences, saved topics, quiz answers, recent searches, and setup status in storage on your device. Viewpoint comparisons are calculated from quiz answers; they can reveal political opinions or interests. The current app does not offer a CivicPolis account, cloud synchronization, or an account-based backup service.
Device, browser, and platform backup or recovery systems may retain copies under their own settings and policies. Local storage does not mean that all related activity stays on the device: lookups, record requests, image loading, and diagnostic output are described below.
Entered location, not device GPS
The current app does not request or read your device’s GPS location. It uses the ZIP code and address you enter or select, which can include street address, city, county, and state. A street address can identify where you live. Do not enter someone else’s private address without an appropriate reason and authority.
Searches and technical information
Search terms and the selected state may be included in requests for live civic records. Services receiving requests also receive ordinary connection information, such as an IP address, request time, and device or browser information. Requests and errors may appear in infrastructure logs.
Some current app builds also write entered addresses, search terms, selected topics, or quiz selections to diagnostic output. If that output is collected through a development, device-support, or diagnostic service, that service may receive the information. Do not include such output in a support report unless it is needed; remove unrelated personal information first.
Messages you send us
If you contact CivicPolis, we receive the contact details, message, attachments, and related correspondence you send. Please do not include sensitive information that is unnecessary to address your request.
3. How information is used
Information is used to provide the feature you request, retrieve geographically relevant civic records, calculate viewpoint comparisons, remember local preferences, respond to messages, troubleshoot problems, protect the service, and meet applicable legal obligations.
Quiz answers and inferred viewpoints are used for the comparison features you choose. They are not a definitive statement of your political affiliation. We do not use them for targeted advertising or provide them to political campaigns, parties, candidates, data brokers, or employers for marketing or profiling. Diagnostic handling and any legally required disclosures remain subject to the explanations in this Policy.
4. Other disclosures
In addition to the requests described above, information may be disclosed:
- To providers supporting the service: hosting, infrastructure, security, and communications providers process information needed to perform those services. A provider’s role and applicable terms determine its obligations.
- At your direction: when you open an external service, share information, or ask us to communicate it.
- For legal and security reasons: where required by law, or where permitted and reasonably necessary to address unlawful activity, protect rights or safety, or respond to a security incident. This is not a general permission for unrelated disclosure.
- During a business transfer: information we actually hold may be transferred with the service, subject to applicable law and the commitments applying to that information. A transfer does not itself authorize materially different uses.
- With a specific consent: when a disclosure requires your consent, we will request it separately.
5. Cookies, browser storage, and privacy signals
The current marketing website does not use advertising cookies, cross-site tracking tools, or an analytics integration. Its interactive preview selections are held in page memory rather than deliberately saved to browser storage. A web version of the mobile app may use browser storage for the app records described in section 2. Hosting and security logs are separate from advertising tracking.
The current service does not track browsing activity across unrelated websites for advertising. It does not change that behavior in response to a “Do Not Track” signal. Our no-sale and no-advertising-sharing practices apply to all users, including browsers sending Global Privacy Control. Such a signal does not disable the ordinary requests needed to deliver a page or feature.
External websites and providers may apply their own tracking practices or combine connection information with other information they hold. If we introduce processing that requires a browser-signal response, consent, or opt-out control, we will implement the required controls and update this notice before it begins.
6. Retention and security
Website preview: selections remain in page memory while the preview is running, subject to browser session restoration. App records: locally saved location, quiz answers, preferences, searches, and setup records remain until removed or replaced using the available app or platform controls.
Information received by CivicPolis: messages and any operational or diagnostic records are retained only as long as reasonably necessary for their purpose, including responding to a request, resolving an incident or dispute, or meeting a legal obligation. Retention depends on the type of record, the unresolved need for it, applicable law, and any required preservation. Provider-controlled logs and platform backups follow their own retention settings and obligations.
The app uses device or browser storage and the protections supplied by the platform; it does not add its own encryption layer to those local records. Protection varies by device, platform, settings, and backup service. No system guarantees absolute security. Use an up-to-date device, appropriate access controls, and backup settings suitable for the sensitivity of your information.
This notice does not waive CivicPolis’s legal duties to protect information or respond to a security incident.
7. Choices and deletion
- Entered location: use the app’s Change Location controls to change your saved location. Where manual entry is offered, it avoids Mapbox autocomplete, but ZIP lookups and live record requests may still go online.
- Website preview: use the preview’s restart controls or reload the page to reset the example. Browser recovery features may restore an earlier session.
- Local app records: Settings → Delete All Data removes the location, preferences, quiz answers, recent searches, and setup records saved by CivicPolis and checks whether those records were removed. If removal is incomplete, the app reports that result.
- Deletion limits: the in-app control does not erase requests already received by other services, their logs, platform backups, or every temporary cache. Clearing platform app data or browser site data may remove additional local storage. Uninstalling does not necessarily erase backups.
- Anonymous browsing: this setting reduces certain new local saves during the current app session. It does not make network activity anonymous, hide your IP address, erase earlier data, or guarantee that no records are written. Check the in-app explanation before relying on it.
- Other providers: review the privacy and backup controls of your device, browser, app store, and services you visit.
For information CivicPolis holds outside your device, contact us using section 12. We cannot directly access or remove records held only on your device, but can explain the available controls.
8. Privacy requests and applicable rights
Depending on your location and the law that applies to CivicPolis, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of personal information; restrict certain sensitive-data uses; opt out of sale, advertising-related sharing, or certain profiling; and appeal a denied request. These rights have legal conditions and exceptions. This Policy does not limit rights that applicable law gives you.
Send requests to legal@civicpolis.org. State your jurisdiction, the right or concern involved, and how we can respond. We will request only information reasonably necessary to verify and process the request. Authorized agents may act where permitted by law. Do not send a government ID, password, full quiz history, or unnecessary address information unless a lawful and necessary verification process specifically requires it.
We will respond within the time required by applicable law and explain any applicable denial or extension. Where an appeal right applies, reply to the decision with “Privacy appeal” and explain your concern. You may also contact the relevant privacy regulator or attorney general. We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
Information held only on your device may not be available to CivicPolis for an access request. Use the controls in section 7 for those records. A privacy request does not require acceptance of a liability waiver or arbitration agreement.
9. Children’s privacy
CivicPolis is a general-audience civic-information service intended for people age 13 and older, and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe that has occurred, contact us with enough information to investigate, without unnecessarily repeating the child’s information.
If we learn of collection requiring parental consent or another protection, we will take the steps required by law, including deletion where required. An age statement in the Terms does not replace those obligations.
10. International access
CivicPolis focuses on United States civic information. Requests may be processed in the United States or other countries where relevant providers operate. Access from another country does not waive any privacy rights or transfer safeguards required by applicable law. We will assess and provide any additional notices, legal basis, choices, and safeguards required before expanding the service to new markets.
11. Changes to this Policy
We will identify the date of a revision and provide appropriate additional notice of material changes. When law requires consent for a new or materially different use or disclosure, we will obtain it before that processing begins. Posting an update or your continued use of the service is not blanket permission to repurpose information already collected.
12. Contact
Legal operator: CivicPolis LLC
Privacy and legal contact: legal@civicpolis.org
Tell us which page or feature your question concerns and provide a reliable way to respond. Keep your message limited to the information needed to address it.