No accounts required
The site does not require user accounts, registration, or login. You can read every public page, search legislation, and use the explainer without creating an account or providing an email address.
Privacy
Civics learning should not become civic surveillance.
What we collect
The MVP collects minimal personal data by design.
No raw address storage
The MVP does not collect, store, or process raw street addresses. The "Find My Government" page is educational and links to official directories. No geocoding, district lookup, or address-based features are implemented in v1.
Correction reports
When you submit a correction report, the site captures the page URL, error type, an optional description, and an optional contact email. The system stores only boolean flags (hasDescription, hasContactEmail) and the page context — not the raw description or email content in the stored receipt.
Search and explainer queries
Bill search and explainer queries are sent to server-side Netlify Functions, which proxy official APIs. The site does not store raw user queries long-term. Source packets and explanations are cached by deterministic hash keys for performance, but the cache does not retain personal identifiers.
Why we need it
Each data collection has a specific purpose.
Search queries
Bill search queries are needed to call official APIs (Congress.gov, Open States) and return normalized results. Without the query, the site cannot retrieve bill data.
Explainer input
Explainer input (bill reference or pasted text) is needed to build a source packet and generate or retrieve a cached explanation. The input is sent to the AI provider only when an AI key is configured.
Correction reports
Correction reports help the site identify stale sources, confusing explanations, tone issues, and accessibility barriers. The page URL and error type are needed to route the report. The description and email are optional.
Cache data
Source packets and explanations are cached to avoid repeated API calls and AI generation costs. Cache keys are deterministic (packet hash, prompt version, model) and do not contain personal identifiers.
Retention
How long data is retained.
Source packet cache
Source packets are cached by packet hash. Active federal bill metadata should refresh at least daily. The cache is designed to support on-demand refresh and stale-while-revalidate patterns. No personal data is stored in the packet cache.
Explanation cache
Generated explanations are cached by packet hash, prompt version, and model identifier. When a source packet is refreshed, the explanation cache key changes, ensuring stale explanations are not served with fresh packets. No personal data is stored in the explanation cache.
Correction reports
Correction reports are stored with a request ID, timestamp, page URL, error type, and boolean flags for description and email presence. The current MVP stores reports in Netlify Blobs or local file storage. Retention rules should remain strict by default: keep only the minimum metadata needed for review and debugging.
User queries
Raw user query text is not retained long-term. The site does not maintain a query log or search history tied to individuals. Query text is used in real-time to call official APIs and then discarded unless cached as part of a source packet or explanation.
External providers
Which external providers process data.
Congress.gov API
Federal bill search queries are sent to the Congress.gov API (Library of Congress) via a server-side Netlify Function. The API key is stored server-side and never exposed to the browser.
Open States API
State bill search queries are sent to the Open States API (Plural Policy) via a server-side Netlify Function. The API key is stored server-side and never exposed to the browser.
GovInfo API
Bill package IDs are sent to the govinfo API (Government Publishing Office) to retrieve official text and package metadata. The API key is stored server-side.
AI provider
If an AI provider is configured, source packet content and the explainer prompt are sent to an OpenAI-compatible API endpoint. The provider processes the prompt and returns generated text. No personal data (name, address, email) is included in the prompt unless the user explicitly pastes it into the explainer input.
Your control
How users can clear or avoid sharing data.
No location data to clear
Because the MVP does not collect or store raw addresses, there is no location data to clear. If future phases add location features, the site will provide a clear way to delete location data immediately.
Optional correction contact
If you submit a correction report, the contact email field is optional. If you do not provide an email, the site has no way to contact you and no email to retain.
Browser data
The site does not set tracking cookies, use localStorage for personal data, or inject advertising scripts. Astro view transitions use the browser's session history but do not store personal data.
Pasted text
If you paste legislation text into the explainer, that text is sent to the server-side function and, if an AI provider is configured, to the AI provider. Do not paste text containing personal information you do not want processed.
What we do not do
The site does not engage in these practices.
No sale of civic behavior data
The product does not sell civics-learning behavior, correction reports, search queries, or future location usage data. Public-interest trust is not compatible with turning civics confusion into a behavioral ad product.
No ad targeting
The site does not use civic behavior data for ad targeting. No advertising networks are integrated. No tracking pixels or behavioral profiling scripts are included.
No third-party data sharing
User queries are not shared with third parties except the official API providers and AI provider needed to process the request. The site discloses which providers process data on this page.
No raw address storage
The MVP does not store raw addresses. If future phases add address-based lookup, the site will explain what is sent, avoid storing raw addresses by default, and let users clear derived geography immediately.