VotePrime Privacy Policy
VoterPrime is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization dedicated to empowering conservative constitutionalists to participate fully in the American political process through principled engagement, peer accountability, and constitutional governance. We built the VotePrime Platform (mobile app for iOS and Android, website, and related services) with a core conviction: your personal data and the data of your contacts belong to you, not to us or any third party.
This Privacy Policy explains, in clear language, exactly what information we collect, how we use it, and the strong safeguards we maintain to protect your privacy. We designed this policy to meet or exceed European-level (GDPR-equivalent) standards while remaining fully compliant with U.S. law and tailored to the unique needs of a civic engagement platform.
By using VotePrime, you agree to the practices described below. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.
1. Information We Collect
We collect only the minimum data necessary to deliver the core features of VotePrime. You control what is shared.
A. Information You Provide Directly
- Account and profile: name, email, phone number, mailing address, self-reported political affiliation, and optional responses to the onboarding Policy Positions Poll.
- User type (Individual or Group).
- User-generated content: messages you draft or send, group creation details, Pledge Tracker selections (Like/Undecided/Dislike), quiz answers, volunteer task selections, and support requests.
B. Contact & Voter Data You Upload
- When you choose to upload or grant access to your device contacts, we temporarily process names, phone numbers, and emails solely to match them against public voter rolls.
- A local device file is created showing which of your contacts are registered voters.
- Default Rule: Matched voter-status data (registration status, voting history) remains on your device unless you explicitly enable optional cloud sync.
C. Automatically Collected Information
- Device type, OS version, app version, IP address (for security and regional content).
- Anonymous usage analytics (opt-out available).
- Crash and performance reports.
- Location data only when you enable it for polling locations or relevant events (address-based fallback always available).
D. Information from Third Parties
- Public voter registration data (used only for matching your contacts).
- Public candidate and legislative data for Pledge Tracker, voting records, and position comparisons.
- Map services for polling locations and contact maps.
- When you sign in with Google, we receive your email address and name from Google and store them in our user account record. We do not share this information with third parties or use it for any purpose beyond authenticating your VotePrime account.
E. What We Do NOT Collect
We never collect Social Security numbers, financial data (except secure payment processing), biometrics, precise location history, or the full content of your private messages. We do not scrape or collect data about your contacts without your explicit upload.
On-Device Residency Option
You may choose during onboarding and in Settings to keep all personal contact and vote-status data exclusively on your device. In this mode, no matched voter data leaves your phone or tablet.
2. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect only to fulfill our mission and provide the services you expect:
- Verify voter registration and display accurate "My Vote" information.
- Enable Phase 1 core features: contact-to-voter matching, Friend Stats, My Vote module, and basic Pledge Tracker.
- Generate AI-assisted personalized messages, candidate bios, pledge scores, and constitutional content.
- Power group functions for precinct chairs and organizations (with proper consent).
- Send relevant notifications (early voting reminders, legislative alerts) based on your chosen engagement cadence.
- Improve the Platform through anonymous analytics.
- Comply with legal obligations and prevent fraud or abuse.
We do not use your data for targeted advertising, sale to third parties, or any purpose outside of voter engagement, civic education, and constitutional accountability.
3. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR-Equivalent)
As a U.S.-based 501(c)(4), we process data based on the following lawful grounds (aligned with GDPR principles for transparency):
- Consent: You explicitly consent to contact upload, location access, cloud sync, and marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time.
- Performance of Contract: Processing necessary to provide the VotePrime services you requested (e.g., matching contacts, displaying polling locations, Pledge Tracker).
- Legitimate Interests: Improving civic tools, preventing fraud, and advancing our social welfare mission of increasing informed conservative voter participation.
- Legal Obligation: Responding to valid court orders or regulatory requirements.
4. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We are extremely restrictive with data sharing. We do not sell, rent, or trade personal data.
We may share data only in these limited cases:
- With service providers (e.g., cloud hosting, mapping, AI providers) under strict data processing agreements that require equivalent privacy protections.
- With your explicit consent (e.g., when you join or create a group, or enable cloud sync).
- In aggregated, anonymized form for internal mission analytics (never identifiable).
- When required by law (subpoena, court order). We will notify you unless prohibited.
- In the event of a merger or acquisition, with continued protection under this policy.
Group/Organization users receive only data that individual members have explicitly opted to share with that group.
5. Data Retention and Deletion
- Account Data: Retained for the duration of your account or as long as needed to provide services.
- Contact & Voter Matching Data: Stored locally on your device by default. Cloud-stored matched data is deleted when you revoke sync or delete your account.
- Usage Analytics: Retained in anonymized form for up to 24 months.
- Messages and Content: Retained only as long as necessary for delivery and feature functionality, then automatically purged unless you choose to keep them.
You may delete your account and all associated data at any time via Settings → Notes → Delete Account. We will permanently delete your data within 30 days (subject to limited legal retention requirements).
6. Your Rights and Controls
We provide strong, easy-to-use controls consistent with European data rights:
- Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Correction: Update inaccurate information.
- Deletion: Delete your account and data ("Right to be Forgotten").
- Opt-Out: Stop processing for specific purposes (e.g., notifications, analytics, cloud sync).
- Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Restriction: Limit how we use your data in certain cases.
- Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
To exercise any right, go to Settings → Account → Privacy Controls or contact us at the address below. We respond to verified requests within 30 days (or 45 days where legally permitted).
You may also adjust notification frequency and engagement cadence in Settings at any time.
7. Privacy Rights for People in a User's Contact List
If you are not a VotePrime account holder, but a VotePrime user has added you to their contact list, you have rights regarding any information about you that we hold. This section describes what we may have, how we use it, and how to request that we remove it.
A. What We May Hold About You
When a VotePrime user imports their contacts, we may store the following information that they provided to us about you:
- Your name as the user entered it.
- Your phone number, email address, and/or mailing address as provided by the user.
- Notes the user has written about you (e.g., issue priorities, conversation history).
- A link to your public voter registration record, if your information matches an entry in the Texas voter file. The voter file itself is publicly published by the Texas Secretary of State.
- The user's stated support level for you (e.g., supporter, undecided, lean) and a record of when the user last drafted a message to you in our platform.
B. What We Do NOT Hold or Do
- We do NOT hold the content of any messages between you and the user. VotePrime drafts messages on the user's device; the user sends them from their own SMS app or email. The actual messages never pass through our servers.
- We do NOT sell, rent, or trade your information. We do not use it for advertising.
- We do NOT contact you directly. Any text or email you receive came from the personal phone or inbox of the VotePrime user who has you in their contacts.
- We do NOT share your information with any third party except the encrypted infrastructure providers (cloud hosting, AI providers under strict data-processing agreements) needed to run the platform.
- We do NOT collect data about you that the user did not provide. We do not scrape, append, or buy data from any vendor to enrich the user's record of you.
C. Your Rights as a Non-User Data Subject
Under U.S. state privacy laws (including the California Consumer Privacy Act, Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, Colorado Privacy Act, and Texas Data Privacy and Security Act) and aligned with GDPR principles, you have the right to:
- Know: Request confirmation of whether we hold information about you, and a copy of what we hold.
- Removal: Request the deletion of all information about you across every VotePrime user's contact list.
- Permanent Opt-Out: Request that you not appear in any future contact list, draft message, or feature, even if a VotePrime user re-imports your contact information. We honor this on a durable basis.
- Object: Object to any specific use of your information.
D. How to Exercise These Rights
Email support@voteprime.org from any address or phone number where you believe you may have been imported as a contact. We will:
- Verify your identity (typically by replying from the address we have on file or by phone call to the number you provide).
- Within 30 days, search our systems for records matching your verified identifier, remove or mark them as opted-out across every user, and confirm completion via email.
- If you choose permanent opt-out, we record your verified identifier in a suppression list so any future re-import by any VotePrime user automatically suppresses your record. Users are not notified that you opted out.
We will not disclose to the requesting party which user or users had you in their contact list, nor will we disclose to any VotePrime user that one of their contacts has exercised a privacy right.
E. If You Received a Message You Believe Came From VotePrime
VotePrime does not send messages on behalf of users. Every text or email you receive in connection with VotePrime came from the personal phone or email of the user who imported you. To stop receiving messages from a specific person, contact them directly. To remove yourself from our systems and prevent future inclusion, follow the "Right to Removal" path described above.
8. Security Measures
We take data security seriously and implement industry-leading protections:
- AES-256 encryption for data at rest and in transit.
- Zero-knowledge architecture where technically feasible (especially for on-device options).
- Secure servers with strict access controls and regular security audits.
- Privacy-by-design and privacy-by-default principles applied throughout development.
- Ongoing monitoring and annual third-party security/privacy audits.
While no system is 100% secure, we continuously work to protect your information as if it were our own.
9. Children's Privacy
VotePrime is not directed to children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If we learn that we have collected such data, we will delete it promptly. Parents or guardians who believe their child has provided information should contact us immediately.
10. International Transfers
VotePrime is based in the United States. When we transfer data outside the U.S. (e.g., to service providers), we use appropriate safeguards including Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms to ensure your data receives adequate protection.
11. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, or legal requirements. We will notify you of material changes by posting the new policy with a new effective date and, where appropriate, through in-app notification or email. Your continued use of the Platform after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
12. Contact Us
If you have questions, concerns, or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:
VoterPrime Privacy Team
Email: support@voteprime.org
Mailing Address: 14011 FM 2920, Tomball, TX 77377
We designate a Data Protection contact responsible for handling privacy inquiries and complaints. We will respond to all communications promptly and in good faith.