Privacy Policy

Effective Date: June 1, 2026

Who We Are

AmericanVoters.US is a civic engagement platform built and operated by SeniorsUnited, Inc., a 501(c)(4) nonprofit civic organization. When this policy says "we" or "our," it means AmericanVoters and the SeniorsUnited team running it.

We exist to help people understand legislation and communicate with their elected representatives. Your information is used only to support that mission.

What We Collect

Account Information

  • Name (salutation, first, last). Used to personalize the platform and ensure respectful messaging when contacting public officials.
  • Email address and phone number. Used for alerts, account-related notifications, and recovery.
  • Street address with ZIP. Required by congressional messaging systems to verify that messages come from actual constituents.
  • Date of birth. Used to confirm 16+ eligibility and present an age-appropriate experience.
  • Optional profile fields you choose to provide. Display name, avatar image, political party preference, age range, topics of interest.

Account Confirmations

You provide these at signup or in your profile:

  • That you are at least 16 years old
  • That the address you provided is your primary home address (we use it to identify your congressional district and to verify you as a constituent when contacting your representatives)
  • That you authorize AmericanVoters to deliver messages to Congress on your behalf
  • Your agreement to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use
  • Your understanding that misuse of the platform — such as impersonating someone, sending spam, or breaking our community rules — may result in permanently losing access

Your Civic Activity on the Platform

  • Bills you choose to follow
  • Concerns you share through Voice Your Concerns
  • Yes/no positions you take on bills
  • Comments and replies you post on bills
  • Vote reasons you choose to share
  • Messages you send to elected officials
  • Invitations you send to others to join the platform

Donations

If you make a contribution to AmericanVoters:

  • Your name and email address (collected by Stripe at checkout; we receive a copy)
  • Your contribution amount and frequency (one-time or monthly)
  • We do not store your payment card. Stripe processes payments and stores card data on their systems under their own terms.

Contributions to SeniorsUnited, Inc. are not tax-deductible for federal income tax purposes.

What We Do Not Collect

  • Social Security numbers
  • Driver's license numbers
  • Payment card numbers
  • Bank account numbers
  • Health information

Data Minimization

We collect only the information needed to operate the platform and support civic engagement. We intentionally avoid collecting personal data we don't need.

How We Use Your Information

Your information is used to:

  • Operate your account and the platform
  • Deliver messages from you to your representatives through official congressional channels
  • Show you bills and issues connected to what you care about
  • Send notifications about legislation you're following and platform updates
  • Improve the platform's usability and performance
  • Run the moderation systems described in the next section
  • Keep the platform secure and prevent abuse

We never sell your personal information. We never share it for advertising or for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not build marketing profiles or participate in ad networks.

AI Processing of Content You Submit

We use artificial intelligence services to moderate and route content you submit on the platform. Here is exactly what that means.

OpenAI processes text you submit on the following surfaces

Used to check for civility, compliance with our Community Guidelines, and to route content correctly:

  • Display name you choose for your account
  • Concerns you share through Voice Your Concerns
  • Positions and vote reasons you post on bills
  • Comments and replies you post on bills
  • Messages you compose for elected officials
  • Invitations you send (the recipient names and any personal note)

The platform also uses OpenAI to match bills to relevant issue categories so the right bills surface for your interests.

AWS Rekognition processes images you upload

Used to scan avatar images for prohibited content (graphic content, hate symbols, and similar). Images are analyzed at the moment of upload.

What is NOT processed by AI

  • The Contact Us form on this site
  • Your profile fields other than display name (name, email, address, phone, etc.) — these are validated, not AI-screened

How these providers handle your content

Per OpenAI's API terms, content submitted through their API is not used to train their models. OpenAI may retain content for a limited period for abuse monitoring. AWS Rekognition processes images at the moment of upload and does not retain them.

If AI flags your content

You will see a message in the platform explaining the issue, and you can edit and resubmit. If you believe a moderation decision was made in error, you can contact us.

Messages to Elected Officials

When you send a message to an elected official through AmericanVoters, the information required by congressional messaging systems — your name, your address (to verify you are a constituent), and your message text — is transmitted to the appropriate office. We use the U.S. House's Communicating with Congress (CWC) system, the Senate's SOAPBox system, or direct email where appropriate.

We do not control how congressional offices store, use, or respond to your messages once they are delivered.

Service Providers We Work With

To operate the platform, we work with a small set of trusted technology providers. Each receives only the information necessary to perform its specific function and is required to safeguard your data.

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) — hosting, account authentication, database storage, file storage
  • Stripe — donation processing (Stripe stores your payment card; we do not)
  • Mailgun — outbound email delivery
  • Smarty — address verification when you create or update your profile
  • Google Analytics 4 — aggregate site usage analytics
  • OpenAI — AI-powered content moderation and bill-to-issue classification (see AI section above)
  • AWS Rekognition — avatar image moderation
  • Communicating with Congress (CWC) and SOAPBox — congressional messaging systems used to route your messages to House and Senate offices

We do not allow these providers to use your information for their own marketing or any unrelated purpose.

Cookies and Site Analytics

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the website and make it easier to use. Cookies are small files the site stores on your device.

What cookies we set

  • Session cookies for account sign-in. When you sign in, AWS Cognito sets cookies (access_token, id_token, refresh_token, expires_at) that keep you signed in. These expire when your session ends or you sign out.
  • Site preference cookies. Remember your choices so the site works the way you expect it to.
  • Google Analytics cookies (_ga, _gid, _gat, and similar). Used for aggregate visitor analytics so we can understand how the site is used.

What our cookies do not do

  • We do not use cookies for advertising or to track you across other websites
  • We do not sell cookie data
  • We are not part of an ad network

How long cookies last

  • Session cookies: until you sign out or your session expires
  • Preference cookies: typically up to one year
  • Analytics cookies: typically up to two years (Google's standard)

Managing cookies

You can disable cookies at any time through your browser settings. Note that disabling all cookies will prevent the account sign-in flow from working. We have chosen to be transparent about cookies in this policy rather than show a consent prompt every time you visit.

Your Choices

You control what you share and how you participate. From your account Settings page, you can:

  • Update your name, address, email, phone, and other profile information
  • Manage your communication preferences and notification topics
  • Update your avatar
  • Delete your account (see "Account Deletion and Data Retention" below)

You can also unsubscribe from any emails we send via the link at the bottom of each email, or contact us with a question or request at any time.

Your State Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under your state's privacy laws.

If you are a resident of California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah (or another state with similar privacy law), you have the right to:

  • Know what personal information we have collected about you
  • Receive a copy of your personal information in a portable format
  • Correct inaccurate personal information
  • Delete your personal information (subject to legal exceptions for retained records like financial reporting and abuse prevention)
  • Opt out of any "sale" of your personal information. As stated above, we do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising — so there is nothing to opt out of in practice, but you have the right to make this request and we will confirm.

To exercise any of these rights, use your account Settings page where possible, or contact us using the link at the bottom of this page. We respond to verified requests within the timeframes required by law (typically 45 days, with one possible 45-day extension if needed).

Account Deletion and Data Retention

You can delete your account at any time from your Settings page. When you request deletion, here is what happens to each category of information.

Profile information

Your name, email, phone, address, date of birth, avatar, party preference, and topics of interest are removed from our active systems within 30 days of your request.

Civic activity

Your bills followed, concerns shared, votes cast, comments and replies, and vote reasons are anonymized within 30 days. We separate your identity from the activity, but preserve the activity itself in anonymized form so aggregate platform analysis (such as "X people voted yes on this bill") remains accurate.

Messages to elected officials

Messages you sent are anonymized but retained as part of the platform's civic-engagement records. This protects the integrity of the civic record without keeping your identity tied to it.

Donations

Donations are anonymized on our side within 30 days. We keep the donation amount and date for our own financial records, but remove your name, email, and address. Stripe keeps independent records of all donations they process; if you ever need a full record of your contributions, you can request it directly from Stripe.

Backups

Information may persist in our secure backups for up to 60 days after deletion, as part of normal system operations. Backups are purged on a rolling schedule.

You can also request deletion by contacting us using the link at the bottom of this page.

Children's Privacy

AmericanVoters is intended for individuals 16 years of age or older. We rely on your confirmation at signup that you meet this requirement.

If we learn that someone under 16 has created an account or provided us with personal information, we will delete the account and any associated information.

Data Security

We use secure systems and reasonable technical safeguards to protect your information, including encryption in transit, access controls, audit logging, and regular review of our security practices.

Access to personal data is limited to authorized SeniorsUnited staff or volunteers who require it to operate the platform.

While no system can guarantee absolute security, we take meaningful steps to protect your information from unauthorized access, loss, or misuse. If we ever experience a security incident that affects your personal information, we will notify you as required by applicable law.

Legal Compliance

We may disclose personal information when required by law or when necessary to respond to valid legal requests from government authorities.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the platform evolves. When we make changes, we will update the Effective Date at the top of this page. For material changes, we will also notify you by email or through a notice on the site. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, how we collect or use your information, or you want to exercise any of the rights described above, please contact us.

Contact Us About Privacy

Mail: SeniorsUnited, 254 Commercial St, Suite 245, Portland, ME 04101