Draft — for attorney review

Privacy policy

Citizen Bills is an independent community platform. This policy describes what we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have.

What we collect

• Account data. Managed by our authentication provider (Clerk). This includes your email address, display name, and login method (password or SSO). We do not store your password.
• Voter verification data. If you choose to verify your Maryland address to have your ratings counted as "verified," we store your full name, street address, city, and ZIP so we can match against publicly available Maryland voter records. This data is never shown publicly. The optional email is used only to notify you when a bill you rated moves.
• Content you submit. Ratings, group posts, submissions in Submit a Change, and on-bill community suggestions. Ratings are aggregated for public display; text submissions are reviewed by editors before appearing publicly.
• Analytics. Basic page-view analytics via administrator-configured tracking pixels. See the site source for the current configuration.

How we use your data

• To provide the site's features (ratings, groups, submissions).
• To distinguish verified voter ratings from unverified ratings.
• To place an approximate dot on a bill's support map when you have verified your address and rated a bill. The dot's precision is intentionally reduced so that no individual address is identifiable.
• To notify you about bills you rated (only if you provide an email during verification).

What we do NOT do

• We do not sell your data.
• We do not share your voter-verification data with third parties.
• We do not publish your address, precise location, or contact info.

Data retention

We keep account and verification data for as long as your account is active. You may request deletion at any time by contacting us at the email listed in the site footer.

Security

All traffic is served over HTTPS. Verification data is stored in a managed Postgres database with row-level security; only the site's server-side code (never public code) can read it.

Contact

Questions or deletion requests: contact us at the email listed in the site footer.

Last updated: draft — pending attorney review.