Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 9/1/2022

Informing Democracy is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy describes how Informing Democracy (“Informing Democracy”, “we” or “us”) collects, uses, and discloses information about you when you access or use the informingdemocracy.org website or any website that links to this Privacy Policy, participate in a survey which we sponsor, or otherwise interact with us. This Privacy Policy collectively refers to these touchpoints as the “Services.”

Types of Information We May Collect:

The categories of personal information we collect depend on how you interact with us, our Services, and the requirements of applicable law. We collect information that you provide to us, information we obtain automatically when you use our Services, and information from other sources such as third-party services and organizations, as described below.

Information you provide directly to us: We may collect information you provide directly to us. For example, we collect information when you register for the Services, access various content or features, fill out a form, participate in a survey provided by us or one of our partners, apply for a job, donate, participate in an event, or otherwise communicate with us. The types of information we may collect includes your name, email address, postal address, phone number, fax number, mobile number, gender, date of birth, and any other information you choose to provide. Federal law also requires Informing Democracy Action to use our best efforts to collect certain employment information, including your occupation and name of employer if your contributions exceed $200 in a calendar year. If you make a donation, we will collect your payment information. Your donations are processed by a third-party payment processor through our online fundraising platforms, including Act Blue. We do not directly collect or store any payment card information entered through our Services, but we will receive information associated with your payment card information, as described above.

Information collected automatically: We may collect certain information automatically including:

Your browser type and operating system

Your Internet Protocol (IP) address, which is the number automatically assigned to your computer whenever you access the Internet

Websites you visited before and after visiting our website

Web pages you view and links you click on within our website

Standard server log information

Information collected through cookies, Web beacons and similar technologies: We use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies for purposes including to authenticate you and tailor your experience on our website according to the preferences you specified.

Cookies are small text files that websites and other online services use to store information about users on the users’ own computers. For example, cookies can be used to store your sign-in credentials so that you do not have to enter them each time you return to a website. Cookies also may be used to store a unique identification number tied to your computer so that a website can recognize you as the same user across different visits to the website.

Web beacons communicate information from your Internet browser to a web server and can be embedded in web pages, videos, or emails, and can allow a web server to read certain types of information from your browser, check whether you have viewed a particular web page or email message, and determine, among other things, the time and date on which you viewed the Web beacon, the IP address of your computer, and the URL of the web page from which the Web beacon was viewed.

We, along with third-party partners, also use other kinds of local storage, such as Local Shared Objects (also referred to as “Flash cookies”) and HTML5 local storage, in connection with the Services. These technologies are similar to the cookies in that they are stored on your computer and can be used to store certain information about your activities and preferences, but are stored in different parts of your computer from ordinary browser cookies.

Our uses of these Technologies fall into the following general categories:

Operationally Necessary. This includes Technologies that allow you access to our Services, applications, and tools that are required to identify irregular website behavior, prevent fraudulent activity and improve security or that allow you to make use of our functionality;

Performance-Related. We may use Technologies to assess the performance of our Services, including as part of our analytic practices to help us understand how individuals use our Services (see Analytics below);

Functionality-Related. We may use Technologies that allow us to offer you enhanced functionality when accessing or using our Services. This may include identifying you when you sign into our Services or keeping track of your specified preferences, interests, or past items viewed;

Advertising- or Targeting-Related. We may use first party or third-party Technologies to deliver content, including ads relevant to your interests, on our Services or on third-party websites.

See “Your Privacy Choices and Rights” below to understand your choices regarding these Technologies.

Analytics. We may use Technologies and other third-party tools to process analytics information on our Services. 

Information from other sources: We may also obtain information about you from other sources. For example, we may collect information about you from third parties, including but not limited to survey providers, mailing list providers, and commercial and publicly available sources.

We may combine all of the information we collect or receive about you and use or disclose it in the manner described in this Privacy Policy.

How We Use the Information We Collect

We generally use other information we collect about you to:

Provide you with our Services, such as:

Managing your information;

Providing access to certain areas, functionalities, and features of our Services;

Answering requests for customer or technical support;

Sending you communications and alerts and otherwise providing you with information that we think will be of interest to you, such as sending you information to keep you informed about various issues, events, activities, and resources;

Connecting you with other supporters, and to solicit volunteers, donations and support for issues, and organizations that we support;

Reminding you to vote and register to vote and assist you in registering to vote and in finding your registration information, polling location and events near you;

Communicating with you about policy changes;

Processing applications if you apply for a job we post on our Services; and

Allowing you to donate. 

Administrative Purposes

We use your information for various administrative purposes, such as:

Pursuing our legitimate interests such as direct marketing, research and development (including marketing research), network and information security, and fraud prevention;

Detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent or illegal activity, and prosecuting those responsible for that activity;

Measuring interest and engagement in our Services;

Improving, upgrading, or enhancing our Services;

Ensuring internal quality control and safety;

Authenticating and verifying individual identities, including requests to exercise your rights under this policy;

Debugging to identify and repair errors with our Services;

Auditing relating to interactions, transactions and other compliance activities;

Enforcing our agreements and policies; and

Complying with our legal obligations.

Marketing and Advertising our Services

We may use personal information to tailor and provide you with content and advertisements. We may provide you with these materials as permitted by applicable law.

Some of the ways we market to you include email campaigns, text messages, phone calls, custom audiences advertising, and “interest-based” or “personalized advertising,” including through cross-device tracking.

If you have any questions about our marketing practices, you may contact us at any time as set forth herein.

Other Purposes

We also use your information for other purposes as requested by you or as permitted by applicable law.

Consent. We may use personal information for other purposes that are clearly disclosed to you at the time you provide personal information or with your consent.

De-identified and Aggregated Information. We may use personal information and other information about you to create de-identified and/or aggregated information, such as de-identified demographic information, de-identified location information, information about the device from which you access our Services, or other analyses we create.

How We Disclose the Information We Collect

We are committed to maintaining your trust, and we want you to understand when and with whom we may share information collected about you. We may disclose information we collect in the following circumstances:

Third-party service providers. We share your information with third-party vendors who help us with specialized services, such as conducting surveys, customer support, email message deployment, analytics, marketing, and data processing. These third parties are allowed to use your information to help us provide our Services and not for any other purposes.

Third-party partners. We may share your information with organizations with similar political objectives and viewpoints for the purpose of advancing our own political objectives.

Business transfers. We may share your information in connection with a substantial corporate transaction, such as the sale of our website, a merger or consolidation, or in the unlikely event of bankruptcy.

Legal requirements. We may disclose information about our users if we believe disclosure is in accordance with, or required by, any applicable law or legal process, including lawful requests by public authorities to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. We may also disclose information in response to a request for cooperation by a government entity, whether or not legally required. We are required by law to collect and in most cases, report the name, address, occupation, and employer of individuals who make contributions to Informing Democracy as well as the date and amount of those contributions. This information is made publicly available by the government agencies with whom Informing Democracy files its reports.

Protection of our Services and users. We may disclose information as we believe is necessary to protect and defend the legal rights, interests, and safety of Informing Democracy, our employees, agents, and contractors; to protect the safety and security of our website users and members of the public; and as otherwise disclosed in our Terms of Use.

Other parties in aggregated form. We may also share your information with third parties in aggregated or non-personally identifiable form.

Otherwise with your consent. We may also share your information in any other manner which you consent to.

All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties. 

Your Choices

You may choose to enjoy certain content and features of the Services without directly providing us with any information about you. The privacy choices you may have about your personal information are determined by applicable law and are described below.

Email and Telephone Communications. If you receive an unwanted email from us, you can use the unsubscribe link found at the bottom of the email to opt out of receiving future emails. Note that you will continue to receive transaction-related emails and we may also send you certain non-promotional communications regarding us and our Services, and you will not be able to opt out of those communications (e.g., communications regarding our Services or updates to our Terms or this Privacy Policy). In addition, to comply with federal election law, our contributor records will be continuously maintained in a separate secure database.

We process requests to be placed on do-not-mail, do-not-phone, and do-not-contact lists as required by applicable law.

Text Messages. You may opt out of receiving text messages from us by following the instructions in the text message you have received from us or by otherwise contacting us.

“Do Not Track” Do Not Track (“DNT”) is a privacy preference that users can set in certain web browsers. Please note that we do not respond to or honor DNT signals or similar mechanisms transmitted by web browsers.

Cookies and Interest-Based Advertising. You may stop or restrict the placement of Technologies on your device or remove them by adjusting your preferences as your browser or device permits. However, if you adjust your preferences, our Services may not work properly. Please note that cookie-based opt-outs are not effective on mobile applications. However, you may opt-out of personalized advertisements on some mobile applications by following the instructions for Android, iOS, and others.

The online advertising industry also provides websites from which you may opt out of receiving targeted ads from data partners and other advertising partners that participate in self-regulatory programs. You can access these and learn more about targeted advertising and consumer choice and privacy by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative and the Digital Advertising Alliance.

Please note you must separately opt out in each browser and on each device.

International Data Transfers 

All information processed by us may be transferred, processed, and stored anywhere in the world, including, but not limited to, the United States or other countries, which may have data protection laws that are different from the laws where you live. We endeavor to safeguard your information consistent with the requirements of applicable laws.

Retention of Personal Information

We store the personal information we collect as described in this Privacy Policy for as long as you use our Services or as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected, provide our Services, resolve disputes, establish legal defenses, conduct audits, pursue legitimate business purposes, enforce our agreements, and comply with applicable laws.

Children’s Privacy Statement

The Services are directed at a general audience and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 (or other age as required by local law). If you are the parent of a child under the age of 13 who provided personal information to us, you can contact us at info@informingdemocracy.org to request that we delete it. If we become aware that a child has provided us with personal information in violation of applicable law, we will delete any personal information we have collected, unless we have a legal obligation to keep it, and terminate the child’s account if applicable.

Links

The Services may provide links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy policies of these sites. Informing Democracy does not provide or control any aspect of the Third-Party Services and is not responsible for any compatibility issues, errors or bugs in the Services or Third-Party Services caused in whole or in part by the Third-Party Services or any update or upgrade thereto. We encourage our users to read the privacy policies of each Third-Party Service with which they interact. We do not endorse, screen or approve, and are not responsible for, the privacy practices or content of such Third-Party Services. Providing personal information to Third-Party Services is at your own risk.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change our Privacy Policy from time to time in our sole discretion to reflect changes to the scope of the Services or for other reasons. If we change the Privacy Policy, we will post the new version on our website and update the effective date at the top of the Privacy Policy to reflect the date of the changes. Therefore, it is important to check the effective date of the Privacy Policy posted here each time you use our Services.

Questions

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, the information we have collected from you online, the practices of Informing Democracy or your interaction with our website, please contact us at info@informingdemocracy.org.