Template notice for the site owner: this policy describes the data practices the platform is designed around. Before launch, have counsel review it against your actual processors, analytics choices and the state privacy laws that apply to you, and fill in the operator’s legal name and postal address.
Effective date: September 17, 2026. Operator: JFK Debate (“we”, “us”). Contact: [email protected].
1. Our approach
We collect the minimum a civic platform needs to work, and nothing we would be uncomfortable explaining on this page. We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We do not run third-party advertising trackers or social media pixels on this site.
2. Information we collect
Information you give us
| Data | Why | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | Account creation, verification, notifications, petition signature confirmation | Yes, for an account |
| Display name | Shown on your posts | Yes, for an account |
| ZIP code or jurisdiction | Routing your vote and petition signature to the right body; showing local content | Yes, to vote or sign |
| Password (hashed) or third-party sign-in identifier (Google, Facebook) | Authentication | Yes, for an account |
| Content you post: debates, arguments, sources, comments, petition text | To publish it | You choose |
| Messages you send us | To answer them | You choose |
Information collected automatically
- Server logs: IP address, user agent, requested URL, timestamp, referrer. Used for security, abuse prevention and aggregate traffic measurement; retained for up to 30 days in identifiable form.
- Privacy-respecting analytics: aggregate page views and referrers without cross-site tracking or advertising identifiers.
- Local storage in your browser: your saved ZIP code, drafts, interface preferences and, where voting is not yet enabled in your jurisdiction, your recorded position on a debate. This stays on your device and is never transmitted to us.
Information we do not collect: precise geolocation, contacts, biometric data, government identifiers, payment card numbers (payments for organization plans are handled by a payment processor, which receives them directly), and any special-category data we have not asked for.
3. How we use information
- To operate accounts, publish your contributions and attribute them to your display name.
- To verify that a vote or petition signature comes from a real, unique person in the relevant jurisdiction.
- To moderate content, investigate reports and enforce the community guidelines.
- To send service messages, and — only if you opt in — a newsletter you can unsubscribe from in one click.
- To measure aggregate usage so we can improve the site.
- To comply with law and to respond to valid legal process.
We do not use your content or personal information to train third-party AI models, and we do not sell it.
4. What is public
Your display name, your posts, the debates you create and the petitions you sign publicly (name and ZIP code as shown at signing) are public. Your email address, password, exact address and individual votes are not. Aggregate vote results by jurisdiction are published; individual votes are not.
Anything you publish may be quoted, indexed by search engines and archived by third parties. Deleting your account removes your profile, but content that has become part of a public record — for example a petition delivered to a government body — may remain, with your name shown as the signature you gave at the time.
5. Sharing
We share personal information only with:
- Service providers acting on our instructions: hosting, email delivery, error monitoring, payment processing for organization plans. They may not use it for their own purposes.
- Government bodies, when you sign a petition addressed to them — the signatures delivered are the ones you provided for that purpose.
- Law enforcement or courts, when required by a valid legal request, and where lawful we will tell you first.
- A successor, in the event of a merger or acquisition, subject to this policy.
6. Cookies
We use strictly necessary cookies for sign-in and security, and privacy-respecting analytics that do not track you across sites. We set no advertising cookies. See the cookie policy for the full list and how to control them.
7. Retention
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Account data | While your account is open, then deleted within 30 days of closure |
| Published contributions | Indefinitely, as part of the public record; attribution can be anonymized on request |
| Server logs with IP addresses | Up to 30 days |
| Moderation records | Up to 2 years, for appeals and repeat-violation handling |
| Email support correspondence | Up to 2 years |
8. Your rights
Depending on where you live — including under the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended (CCPA/CPRA), and comparable laws in Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana and other states — you may have the right to: know what we collect, access a copy, correct it, delete it, limit use of sensitive information, opt out of “sale” or “sharing” and targeted advertising (we do none of these), and not be discriminated against for exercising a right.
To exercise a right, write to [email protected] from your account email, or use the form on the Your Privacy Choices page. We respond within 45 days and may extend once where the law allows. You may use an authorized agent; we will verify the authorization.
If you are in the EEA or UK, our legal bases are: performance of a contract (operating your account), legitimate interests (security, abuse prevention, aggregate analytics), consent (newsletter), and legal obligation. You may object, request portability and complain to your supervisory authority.
9. Children
This service is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, write to [email protected] and we will delete it. Users between 13 and 18 should have a parent or guardian read these terms with them.
10. Security
We use encryption in transit, hashed passwords, least-privilege access for staff, and logging of administrative access. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by law.
11. International transfers
The service is operated from the United States and intended for a US audience. If you access it from elsewhere, your information is transferred to and processed in the United States.
12. Third-party links
Our directory and articles link extensively to government and news websites. Those sites have their own privacy practices, which we do not control. Photographs are served by Unsplash’s image CDN, which receives the request for the image.
13. Changes
We will post changes here with a new effective date, and for material changes we will notify account holders by email at least 14 days before they take effect.