Voting Rights Lab
Privacy Policy

Voting Rights Lab (also referred to here as “we” or “us”) respects the privacy of visitors to our website, https://votingrightslab.org/ (the “Site”). This privacy policy (the “Policy”) describes how Voting Rights Lab handles information collected from users of the Site. By using the Site, you are deemed to agree to the terms of this Policy, so please do not use the Site if you do not agree with these terms.  

We may update this Policy at any time. Any changes to the Policy will become effective upon the date of our posting of the revised Policy on the Site. If you visit the Site following the effective date of the revised Policy, you will be deemed to have accepted the Policy’s updated terms.

What Types of Information Does Voting Rights Lab Collect?

The information we collect through the Site includes certain “Personally Identifiable Information” (or “PII”), which is information that identifies you as an individual, such as your first and last name, email address, organizational affiliation (if any), and title.  We collect this information when you voluntarily provide it, such as when you send us an email message; fill out our “Get In Touch” webform; sign up to subscribe to our weekly election law and policy newsletter, The Markup, or our monthly newsletter, The Lever; or create an account with us to access our Voting Rights Lab Tracker. If you make a donation through the Site, we will collect your name, email address, and billing address, but your payment information (e.g., credit card number) will be collected solely by our payment processor, Fundraise Up. Fundraise Up protects personal information in accordance with its own privacy policy (Privacy Policy | Fundraise Up) and its commitments to its customers, including Voting Rights Lab, to protect payment information provided to it on behalf its customers.

The Site also automatically collects information about you that is generally not PII (“Non-PII”) but relates to your use of the Site. Non-PII is aggregated information, demographic information and any other information that does not reveal your specific identity. Non-PII is automatically collected from you through browser navigational tools, such as cookies, which can recognize your visits by identification of the computer or device that you are using to access the Site. In addition to our own cookies, we also use Google Analytics to collect data on user interactions with the website. This includes tracking page views, user behavior, user visit duration, and user locations. The data helps in optimizing the website’s performance and understanding user engagement.

If you create an account with us to access the Voting Rights Lab Tracker, the Site will collect the IP (Internet Protocol) address of where you logged into the Site. 

How Does Voting Rights Lab Use the Information It Collects?

PII.  We may use the PII that we collect about you for any or all of the following purposes:

1. Responding to Requests. To respond to your requests, such as to answer your questions sent by email or through the “Get In Touch” form on the Site.
2. Providing Information. To provide you with information regarding our resources or services that may be of interest to you, such as our newsletters, The Markup and The Lever.
3. Our Own Business Purposes. We use PII about you for our own business purposes, such as to help us improve the Site, including by requesting feedback from you, and for related internal purposes such as data analysis and internal audits

Other Information. We use cookies to facilitate Site visitors’ use of the Site and to help us learn about users’ interests in particular areas of the Site, all of which enables us to try to make the Site as helpful as possible for visitors. Cookies are used to store user session data, preferences, and consent. They also help in tracking user activities across sessions and maintaining personalized settings or login sessions. We use the information collected through Google Analytics to help us improve the Site, such as by analyzing Site visitor trends, including usage of certain pages or functions on the Site. We use the IP addresses of logged-in users for Site security and monitoring purposes.

If we combine non-PII with any data so that it becomes identifiable to you or another person, we will then treat it as PII in accordance with this Policy.

With Whom Does Voting Rights Lab Share PII Collected Through the Site?

1. Service Providers. We share PII with unaffiliated third parties who provide us with services, such as the designer of the Site and others who assist us with technology, data analysis, or similar services. We do not share PII with unaffiliated third parties for their own marketing purposes.  
2. Acquirers or Assignees. In the event of any reorganization, merger, sale, joint venture, assignment, transfer or other disposition of all or any portion of Voting Rights Lab or its assets, we may transfer any and all information that we collect from Site users to the acquiring party or assignee.
3. Entities Entitled Under Law. We may disclose PII as we believe to be appropriate in the following circumstances: (i) when required by applicable law, including laws outside your country of residence; (ii) to comply with legal process (iii) to respond to requests from public and government authorities; (iv) to enforce the terms and conditions for use of the Site, including this Policy; (v) to protect and defend our rights and property; (vi) to protect the interests of Voting Rights Lab or others; and (vii) to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit the damages that we may sustain. We have no obligation to notify you of such disclosures, except as required by applicable law.

How Do We Maintain and Protect PII Collected Through the Site?

1. Accuracy. If you would like us to correct, update, or remove PII about you that you previously provided to us, please inform us through the “Contact Us” page on the Site.
2. Security. We use reasonable organizational, technical, and administrative measures to help protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. However, no data transmission over the Internet or data storage system can be guaranteed to be 100 percent secure. Please do not send us information you consider confidential via email.  

Data Retention. We will retain PII about you for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Policy.

Collection of PII by Others

1. Tracking on Our Site. We do not currently allow others to collect the PII of visitors to our Site by tracking individuals’ usage of our Site and other websites over time. As noted above, however, we use Google Analytics to collect information about Site visitors in order to provide analytics services that help us to improve the Site.
2. Other Websites. The Site may contain links to websites operated by parties not affiliated with Voting Rights Lab. These linked websites are not under our control and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the contents of any such unaffiliated parties or their websites. If you provide PII through any such third-party website, the PII will be collected by, and controlled by the privacy policy of, that third party. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with the privacy policies and practices of any such third parties.

Use of the Site by Minors

The Site is not directed to minors and we do not knowingly collect PII from any individuals under age 16. 

International Transfers of Information

By using the Site, you are deemed to understand and unambiguously consent to the collection and processing of your PII in the United States, with the awareness that the laws of the United States may not provide as much protection for PII as the laws of certain other countries or territories.

Contacting Us 

If you have any questions or concerns related to this Privacy Policy or the information practices of this Site, please reach out to us through the “Contact” page on the Site, or write to us or call us at the address/email address/phone number below. 

Voting Rights Lab
611 Pennsylvania Avenue SE #201
Washington, D.C. 20003
Email: operations@votingrightslab.org