Privacy Policy

Effective July 20, 2026

Who we are

CivicBrief is an independent, nonpartisan civic engagement app for iPhone, operated by its developer in the United States. You can reach us any time at privacy@civicbrief.info.

Information we collect

Information you provide

• ZIP code — entered during onboarding. Used to show your elections, representatives, state legislation, voting rules, and nearby civic events.
• Selected issues — the civic topics you choose (for example Healthcare, Education, Climate). Used to personalize your news feed, bill lists, and alignment scores.
• Account details (optional) — CivicBrief works fully without an account. If you choose to sign in with email and password, Sign in with Apple, or Google, we receive the email address (and, for Apple/Google, the display name) associated with that sign-in. Accounts exist only to sync your ZIP code and issue selections across devices.

Information collected automatically

• App usage analytics — we use Google Firebase Analytics to understand how the app is used in aggregate: which screens are viewed, whether onboarding is completed, and which features are used. This includes basic device information (device model, OS version, country) and app events. We use this solely to improve CivicBrief. We do not use analytics to build advertising profiles, and we do not use the identifier for advertisers (IDFA) or track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• Crash reports — we use Sentry to receive crash and error reports so we can fix bugs. Reports are configured to strip personal information; your ZIP code may be included to help reproduce location-dependent bugs.
• Notification permission state — whether you've allowed election reminders, so the app only schedules them if you have.
• Device location (optional) — if you grant location permission, it is used on your device to show your position and distances on the civic events map. Your device location is not stored on our servers.

What we do not collect

• No name (unless provided by your optional sign-in), phone number, street address, or demographic information.
• No contacts, photos, or browsing history.
• No cross-app or cross-site tracking, and no advertising identifiers.
• We never ask how you vote, and nothing in CivicBrief records how you vote.

How we use your information

We use the information above to personalize the app to your location and interests, send election reminders you've opted into, sync your preferences if you create an account, fix crashes, and understand aggregate usage so we can improve the product. That is the complete list.

Where your data lives

If you use CivicBrief without an account, your ZIP code and issue selections are stored on your device. If you sign in, they are also stored in Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore), which we use for authentication and data sync. Firebase and Sentry process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy commitments; they are not permitted to use your data for their own purposes.

Third-party data sources

CivicBrief displays civic information fetched from public and official sources, including the Google Civic Information API, Congress.gov, OpenStates, the Federal Election Commission, The Guardian, Ballotpedia, and Wikipedia. When the app requests this content, those services receive the query needed to return it (such as a ZIP code, state, or topic) along with standard technical information like an IP address — the same as when any app or browser requests data. We do not send them your identity, and they do not receive your account information.

What we never do

• We never sell your personal information, and we have never sold it.
• We never share your information with political parties, campaigns, advocacy organizations, advertisers, or data brokers.
• We never show targeted advertising.

Your choices and rights

• Use CivicBrief without an account — all core features work in guest mode.
• Change your ZIP code or issues — any time, in the app.
• Turn off notifications — in the app's settings or iOS Settings.
• Delete your account and data — contact privacy@civicbrief.info and we will delete your account and associated data promptly. (In-app account deletion is also available or coming to the Settings screen.)
• Access or correct your data — email us and we'll help.

Depending on where you live (for example, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and other states with consumer privacy laws), you may have additional rights to access, correct, or delete personal information. We honor these requests from all users regardless of state. We do not "sell" or "share" personal information as those terms are defined under those laws.

Children

CivicBrief is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

If we add paid features

CivicBrief is currently free. If we introduce optional paid features in the future, purchases will be processed by Apple through the App Store. We would receive only anonymized transaction records — never your payment details — and this policy will be updated before any such feature launches.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and note the change prominently in the app or on this page. We will never quietly weaken the commitments in the "What we never do" section.

Contact

Questions, requests, or concerns: privacy@civicbrief.info