Your politics are not for sale

1. Scope and our commitments

This Privacy Policy describes information handled by Informed Texan ("we," "us") when you use the Informed Texan website and services. No account is required to browse demonstration content or build a demonstration voter guide. Access to reviewed real candidate records requires an account with a confirmed email address. We do not sell voter or political-interest data, run political advertising, or use questionnaire results for political targeting. We do not personalize content based on inferred ideology.

2. Information we handle

• Voter-guide information: your entered location, questionnaire answers, notes, issue weights, and dealbreakers are stored in your browser’s local storage, not in your account. Alignment calculations take place on your device; voter answers and scores are not uploaded for scoring. Anyone with access to your browser profile may be able to access locally saved information.
• Optional accounts: we store your email, account identifier, display name, and the issues and candidates you choose to follow. Follow preferences may reveal political interests; they are private to your account and are not used to infer your ideology. Our authentication service handles credentials and sign-in sessions. If you use Google sign-in, we receive the account information needed to authenticate you, such as your email and account identifier.
• Messages and corrections: we store the description, links, sources, and optional contact email you submit through the correction form. Do not include voter-guide answers, passwords, or unnecessary sensitive information in submissions.
• Technical information: hosting and authentication services may process IP addresses, browser and device details, request timestamps, and diagnostic or security logs to deliver and protect the service.

3. How information is used

We use account information to provide sign-in and saved preferences, submitted messages to investigate issues and respond, and technical information to operate, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the service. We may also use information to comply with legal obligations and prevent fraud or misuse. Where applicable law requires a legal basis, processing is based on providing the requested service, legitimate operational and security interests, legal obligations, or consent where required.

4. Sharing and service providers

We use service providers for hosting, authentication, data storage, and email delivery. They process information needed to perform those services. We may disclose information when required by law or reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, or service security. Information may be transferred as part of a merger, acquisition, or asset transfer, subject to applicable law and this policy’s commitments. We do not provide voter answers to AI services for candidate scoring. Editorial AI research concerns public sources and candidate evidence, not your private guide.

5. Browser storage and external links

We use local storage for your voter guide and session-related storage or cookies for authentication. You can clear site data through your browser settings; doing so may erase your guide and sign you out. External election authorities, news publishers, and sign-in providers have their own privacy policies. Information you choose to send to them is governed by their practices.

6. Retention and security

Locally saved guide information remains until you erase it or clear browser storage. Account information is retained as needed to provide your account, and messages and technical records as needed for their stated purposes, legal requirements, or dispute resolution. We use access controls and other reasonable safeguards, but no system or transmission is completely secure. Deletion may be subject to lawful retention requirements and normal backup cycles.

7. Your choices and privacy rights

You can edit your display name and remove followed issues or candidates from your account. Use the button below to erase guide information from this browser. This does not delete account information or copies you printed, downloaded, or shared.

Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of personal information, restrict or object to processing, withdraw consent, appeal a decision about a request, or complain to a regulator. Submit an account-deletion or other privacy request through our contact form, identifying it as a privacy request and including a reply email. We may need to verify your identity; we will not request your password. We do not discriminate for exercising applicable privacy rights.

8. Children and international use

The service is intended for a general civic-information audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect account information from children under 13. Contact us if you believe such information has been provided. Our providers may process information outside your state or country, subject to applicable legal safeguards.

9. Updates and contact

We may revise this policy as the service or law changes. The effective date above identifies the current version. We will provide additional notice of material changes where required by law. For questions or requests, use our contact form. See also our Terms of Use.