Privacy Policy

Who we are

The Political Transparency Project (“PTP,” “we,” “us”) operates poltrapro.com — a non-partisan, public-interest platform that aggregates publicly available political data (campaign finance filings, voting records, financial disclosures, lobbying disclosures) and presents it in accessible formats. All underlying data is sourced from U.S. federal government records and is in the public domain.

This policy covers poltrapro.com and its associated API. It does not constitute legal advice and will be replaced by an attorney-reviewed version before commercial API launch.

Information we collect about you

Email address

If you subscribe to our newsletter via the footer form, we store your email address in our database (Supabase, hosted in the United States). We use it only to send you updates about the platform. We do not sell, rent, or share your email address with third parties. You can unsubscribe at any time by emailing privacy@poltrapro.com.

API keys

If you register for API access via the developer portal, we store a hashed version of your API key alongside your email address. We log API request counts and timestamps for rate-limit enforcement. We do not log the content of your API queries.

Candidate watchlist

If you add candidates to a watchlist, we store your email address and the candidate IDs you selected. This data is used only to send you alerts about those candidates.

Server logs

Our hosting provider (Vercel) automatically logs standard server data — IP addresses, browser type, pages visited, and timestamps. We use this for security monitoring and aggregate traffic analysis. We do not tie server logs to individual user identities.

Analytics

We use Vercel Analytics for privacy-preserving traffic measurement. It collects no cookies, no device fingerprints, and no personally identifiable information. Aggregate page-view counts only.

Information we do NOT collect

• No advertising tracking cookies or third-party ad pixels
• No purchase of data about you from data brokers
• No social media tracking pixels
• No device fingerprinting
• No selling of your personal information to third parties — ever

Data about public figures

The profiles, finance data, voting records, stock trades, and lobbying data shown on this site concern elected officials, candidates for public office, lobbyists, and other public figures. This information is drawn entirely from official U.S. federal government filings — FEC reports, Congressional records, House financial disclosures under the STOCK Act, and Lobbying Disclosure Act filings — all of which are public domain.

Republication of public government records about public figures for news, commentary, and public-interest purposes is protected under the First Amendment. We do not create profiles of private individuals and we do not publish individual donor personal information for commercial purposes.

How we use your information

• To send newsletter updates you opted into
• To deliver watchlist alerts you configured
• To enforce API rate limits and manage developer access
• To diagnose technical issues and maintain security
• To measure aggregate site traffic (no individual tracking)

We do not use your information for advertising, profiling, or sale to third parties.

Third-party services

We rely on the following third-party services, each with their own privacy practices:

• Vercel (hosting, edge network, analytics) — vercel.com/legal/privacy-policy
• Supabase (database and authentication) — supabase.com/privacy
• Ko-fi (optional donations) — ko-fi.com/privacy
• Stripe (future payment processing, not yet live) — stripe.com/privacy

We share your email and API usage data with Supabase solely for storage. We do not share personal information with Vercel, Ko-fi, or Stripe beyond what is required to process a specific transaction you initiate.

Data retention

• Newsletter emails: retained until you unsubscribe
• API keys and usage logs: retained for the life of your account; deleted on request
• Watchlist data: retained until you remove it or request deletion
• Server logs: retained for 90 days by Vercel, then purged

Your rights

Regardless of where you live, you may email privacy@poltrapro.com to:

• Request a copy of personal information we hold about you
• Request deletion of your email address, API account, or watchlist data
• Unsubscribe from the newsletter
• Request correction of inaccurate personal information

California residents have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), including the right to know what personal information is collected, the right to delete it, and the right to opt out of its sale (we do not sell personal information). We will respond to verified requests within 45 days.

Do Not Track: We honor Do Not Track browser signals. When DNT is enabled, we do not load any third-party tracking scripts. Vercel Analytics does not use tracking cookies regardless of DNT status.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. If you believe we have done so inadvertently, contact us and we will delete the information immediately.

Security

We store all personal information in Supabase with row-level security enabled. API keys are stored as one-way hashes — we cannot recover them. We use HTTPS everywhere. No security measure is perfect; if you discover a vulnerability please disclose it responsibly to privacy@poltrapro.com.

Changes to this policy

We will update this policy as the platform evolves. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date at the top of this page and, if the changes affect newsletter subscribers, notify them by email. Continued use of the site after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

This is a placeholder policy drafted May 2, 2026, pending formal review by a media/technology attorney. It will be replaced by an attorney-reviewed version before the commercial API accepts its first paying customer.

Contact

For privacy questions, data requests, or to report a concern:

Political Transparency Project
Email: privacy@poltrapro.com