Privacy Policy

Collection, Use and Disclosure of Information

You can fully utilize VoteLab without telling us who you are or submitting any personal information. You can pick a riding, cast your ballots, and see how they would be counted under each voting system without creating an account. You have the option to submit certain personal information in the course of using VoteLab, such as your postal code, your email address, and, if you choose, demographic information about yourself. This information is used to enhance your experience, to improve the accuracy of the aggregate results, to let you save and return to your ballots, and to notify you when there is enough participation in your riding to show live results.

We will not rent or sell any of the information that we collect from you when you interact with VoteLab, nor will we disclose any personal information about you to a third party without your consent. We use the information you share with us for civic-education and electoral-reform research, and will only ever disclose it in a manner which cannot be used to identify you, such as aggregate analytics.

VoteLab is reform-engagement infrastructure for Springtide. If, and only if, you give your explicit consent when you register, Springtide may contact you by email about its electoral-reform advocacy. You can withdraw that consent at any time, and you will receive no such communications unless you have opted in.

Your IP address may be used by our hosting provider for diagnostic purposes, but we do not directly associate it with the information you provide to VoteLab.

VoteLab does not use cookies to track your online activity. For aggregate traffic measurement we use Fathom Analytics, a Canadian-owned, cookie-free service that does not track you across other websites or build a profile of you. We do not run third-party advertising or tracking scripts on any page that handles your personal information.

We cannot ensure that identifiable personal data will never be disclosed in ways not described in this policy. By way of example, we may be compelled to disclose data to a government agency lawfully requesting it, or to any court acting in pursuance of its powers, when required to do so by law.

When you choose one of the concern prompts on our home page, we record only which prompt you selected, with no account and no information that identifies you. We use these anonymous counts to understand which issues matter most to visitors.

Safeguarding of Information

We have implemented administrative, technical and physical measures to safeguard the information in our custody and control against theft, loss and unauthorized access, use, modification and disclosure. We restrict access to your information on a need-to-know basis to people and authorized service providers who require access to fulfill their responsibilities.

Location of Information

All information you share with us is securely stored and processed in facilities located in Canada, at rest, in transit, and during processing. We do not transfer your personal data outside of Canada.

Your Rights

Under Québec's Law 25 and Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), if you have created an account you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, to correct it, to delete it, and to withdraw your consent to advocacy communications at any time. You can delete your ballots or your entire account yourself, or contact our Privacy Officer to make a request.

Any demographic information you provide is stored separately from your ballots and your account, and is used only for aggregate analysis. To exercise your rights, contact our Privacy Officer at comments@votelab.ca.

Legal Basis for Processing

By registering and using VoteLab, you consent to the collection and use of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about the legal basis for processing your data, please contact our Privacy Officer at comments@votelab.ca.

Children

VoteLab is intended for a general audience. We do not knowingly collect demographic information from anyone under the age of 18; users under 18 are offered a version of VoteLab that omits the demographic survey.

Third-Party Websites

VoteLab may include links to third-party websites. Selecting those links may allow the third party to collect or share personal information about you. If you follow a link to a third-party website, please refer to that party's privacy notice. We do not endorse and are not responsible for the information or privacy practices of websites or services owned by third parties.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We are committed to continuously reviewing and updating our Privacy Policy to reflect new technological practices, changes in legal requirements, and our users' needs. Any amendments to our Privacy Policy will be posted directly on this page.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, or regarding your information, the ways in which we collect and use it, or your choices and rights regarding such use, please contact our Privacy Officer at comments@votelab.ca.