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Privacy

Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 26, 2026

Empowered Vote Inc (“Empowered Vote”, “EV”, “we”) is a US non-profit. We build tools that help people understand where they and their representatives stand, and find shared solutions. This page explains what information we collect, why, who helps us process it, and the choices you have. Questions or requests: info@empowered.vote.

We aim to collect as little as possible, and to hold the most sensitive information — your political views and your real identity — with care. Since October 2026, the real name of a Connected member is locked away from our working systems: no single person at Empowered Vote, and no part of the running site, can read it.

What we collect and why

  • Your email address — to create your account and sign you in.
  • Your real name (Connected accounts only) — to confirm that each Connected member is a real, single person. We seal it the moment you give it to us, using a lock that our website can close but cannot open. Opening it takes two of our four board members acting together, offline, and every opening is recorded with its reason. We expect to do this only for a legal requirement or a safety emergency.
  • Your address (only if you choose to enter it) — to find your voting district and show your elected officials. We do not display your address back to you, and it is not included in our normal data responses. We store the derived location (your district and approximate coordinates) to power these features. For Connected accounts, the full address you type is sealed in the same way as your real name.
  • Your compass answers and stances — your positions on political topics. These are political opinions, which privacy law treats as a special, more sensitive category of personal data. We collect them only because you choose to answer, and we use them to power the compass and related features.
  • How you use the site — aggregate, privacy-preserving analytics (pages viewed, features used, errors). This is cookieless: for anonymous visitors we store nothing on your device and build no personal profile.
  • Donations — if you donate, our donation partner (GiveButter) processes your name, email, and payment. Card details go directly to a secure payment processor; neither GiveButter nor EV stores your card number.

Cookies

We do not use advertising or tracking cookies, and we show no cookie banner because there is nothing non-essential to consent to. We set only strictly necessary cookies — for example, the cookie that keeps you signed in after you log in. Our analytics runs without cookies.

Account types and how privacy differs

  • Inform — anyone can read and use these features with no account. Browsing is anonymous. If you contribute information (for example, submitting a badge), we do keep a record of who contributed it, for accountability.
  • Connected — a verified, unique person. You take part under a username, not your real name: your activity is linked to your username, and your real name is sealed as described above. Your display name is public, so choose one that does not identify you.
  • Empowered — public civic leaders and candidates. These accounts are not anonymous; transparency is expected of public leadership.

Who helps us process your data

We use trusted service providers (“processors”) who act on our instructions under data-processing agreements. They are:

  • WorkOS — sign-in and identity.
  • Supabase — our main database.
  • PostHog — cookieless product analytics.
  • Resend — sending account emails (such as sign-in codes and password resets).
  • Render — hosting.
  • GiveButter — donations.
  • Infrastructure providers Amazon Web Services (DNS and queues) and Upstash (session and rate-limit data).

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.

How long we keep your data

We keep your information for as long as your account is active. You can ask us to delete it at any time (see below).

Your choices and rights

You can ask to see, correct, or delete your personal data. Email info@empowered.vote and we will handle your request. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR; we apply GDPR-level protections as our own standard, wherever you are.

Where your data is processed

EV is based in the United States and uses some US-based providers. We apply the same protections to everyone’s data regardless of location.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page as our systems change, and we will change the “Last updated” date above when we do.

Questions about this policy or your data? Email us at info@empowered.vote.