Privacy Policy

1. Overview

VOC·US ("we", "our", or "the platform") is an independent Congress accountability platform. We are committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights under applicable law including the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

We never sell your political opinions. Your ratings, quiz answers, and voting preferences are never shared with advertisers, political parties, or data brokers.

2. Data We Collect

• Account data: Email address and name (via Kinde authentication — Google, GitHub, or email login)
• Location data: ZIP code (used only to identify your congressional representatives)
• Activity data: Approval ratings you submit, quiz results, poll votes
• Usage data: Pages visited, features used — only if you consent to analytics
• Consent preferences: Your cookie and data sharing choices

We do not collect: political party affiliation, voting history, Social Security numbers, financial data, or sensitive personal information.

3. How We Use Your Data

• To show you approval ratings for your specific representatives based on your ZIP code
• To calculate and display your values alignment quiz results
• To participate in anonymous citizen polls (your vote is counted but not linked to your identity publicly)
• To improve the platform through anonymous, aggregate analytics (only with your consent)
• To send bill alerts if you opt in to topic notifications

4. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We may share data with:

• Service providers: Hosting (Vercel), database (Neon/PostgreSQL), authentication (Kinde), payment processing (Stripe) — under strict data processing agreements
• Public aggregate statistics: Anonymized approval ratings averages (e.g., "Senator X has 62% approval") — never individual data
• Legal requirements: If required by law or court order

5. Your Rights (CCPA & General)

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of data we hold about you
• Deletion: Delete your account and all associated data via Settings → Delete Account
• Opt out of analytics: Manage via Settings → Privacy & Data
• Do Not Sell (CCPA): California residents can opt out via Do Not Sell My Personal Information
• Portability: Contact us to request your data in a portable format

6. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. Approval ratings are anonymized (not deleted) when you delete your account to preserve platform data integrity. Anonymous poll votes are retained permanently as they cannot be linked to you.

7. Security

We use industry-standard encryption (TLS), secure authentication, and access controls to protect your data. We conduct regular security reviews and promptly address vulnerabilities.

8. Contact

For privacy-related questions or data requests, contact us at privacy@voiceofcitizens.us