Privacy Policy

The short version

• Your answers are stored on your device. Anonymized sharing, which starts on and can be turned off in Account, contributes only counts, plus your state so results can compare states, never anything that identifies you.
• Location is optional. When you use it, we look up your state and U.S. House district, then discard the precise coordinate.
• If you share answers, your state is attached to that anonymous count so the app can show how states compare. You can turn that off on its own in Account and keep sharing answers, and turning it off also withdraws the state from counts you already contributed.
• We do not use advertising identifiers, third-party ad networks, or tracking SDKs.
• Anonymous crash reports are on by default so we can fix bugs; they carry the device model, OS version, and the crash itself, never your answers, location, or identity. Turn them off any time in Account.
• Donating to support the app is optional and happens in your browser through Stripe. Concord never sees or stores your payment details.
• Concord Plus is an optional subscription bought through Apple. Apple handles the payment; Concord receives no name, email, or payment details, and the subscription is not linked to any answer you share.
• We do not sell or rent your personal information.
• You can delete everything at any time from Account → “Delete my answers and start over,” or by uninstalling the app.

Information you provide

Your responses to issue questions are saved locally on your device so your civic profile persists between sessions. Unless you turn anonymized sharing off, answering also contributes an anonymous count (see “Anonymized sharing” below).

If you choose to set a voting location, we store only your state and (optionally) your U.S. House district number, locally on your device.

How location works

Setting your location is optional and you can use the app fully without it. If you tap “Use my location,” your device provides a GPS coordinate that we use, in memory, to look up your state and congressional district through the U.S. Census Bureau’s public geocoder.

The precise coordinate is used only for that lookup and is not stored by Concord and not sent to our servers. Only the resulting state and district are saved on your device. You can also set your state manually without granting location permission.

Your state, and only your state, is sent with a shared answer if you have turned on “Where others stand.” Your district is never attached to a shared answer, and the precise coordinate never reaches our servers at all.

To load the races, candidates, ballot measures, and local news for where you vote, the app asks our server for that state and district. For example, “show me the races in CA district 11.” That request carries no account, device identifier, or answers, and we do not store it against you.

Information we do not collect

• No name, email, password, or account (the app is anonymous in this version).
• No contacts, photos, microphone, or background location.
• No advertising or cross-app tracking identifiers.

How we use information

Your answers are used on your device to compute your civic profile and your overlap with candidates and movements. Your location is used to show the races on your ballot. We use this information only to provide the app’s features to you.

Anonymized sharing (on by default, with a full off switch)

Anonymized sharing starts on, is disclosed on first launch, and can be turned off at any time under Account → “Where others stand.” While it is on, answering contributes to the aggregate results the app shows after each question: the question, the chosen value, and, if you have set one, your state, with no account, device identifier, name, timestamp, or precise location attached.

Your state is sent so results can show how your state compares with the country. It is stored only as a count for that question and state, never as a record of your answer. A state’s own results stay hidden until at least 25 people in it have answered that question, so a thin state can never reveal how someone answered.

Shared answers may also be grouped by a coarse lean - left, even, or right - computed on your device from your own answers, as counts only, so results can show how people with different overall views answered. The same 25-answer minimum applies to each group, and the lean never accompanies anything that could identify you.

Story quizzes work the same way: if sharing is on, your multiple-choice pick is sent as an anonymous count so results can show how many people knew the answer. Whether you got it right is only ever shown to you, on your device.

We store only running counts per question and answer value. We do not keep individual submissions, so a contribution cannot be traced back to you or singled out. Turning sharing off stops further contributions; because past counts carry no identifier, they cannot be located to remove.

Aggregate results appear only once enough people have answered for the numbers to be meaningful.

Weighing in on a bill discussion statement works the same way when sharing is on: your agree or disagree vote is sent as a count, together with a coarse lean bucket (left, even, or right) computed from your answers on your device. The bucket exists so results can show how people of different leans received a statement. It is three broad groups, never your profile or your answers, and it is stored only as a count.

Crash reports (on by default, opt out any time)

To find and fix bugs, the app sends an anonymous report when it crashes. A report contains the device model, operating system version, the app version, and the technical details of the crash. It never contains your answers, your location, or anything that identifies you, and we scrub reports in code before they are sent.

Crash reports are processed by Sentry, an error-monitoring service, on our behalf. You can turn them off at any time under Account → “Crash reports,” and from that moment nothing further is sent.

Question and estimate reports

If you report a problem with a question or with a candidate position estimate, the report is sent to our server as an anonymous count: the item reported and the reason category you chose. It carries no account, device identifier, name, or timestamp, and any note you type stays on your device. Reports work whether or not sharing is on, because a report describes our content, not your views.

Third-party services

Concord relies on a small number of external services. When you interact with these features, requests go directly to those providers, who handle that data under their own policies:

• U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder: receives a coordinate to return your state and district when you use location.
• Concord’s content API and public government sources (e.g., Congress.gov, the unitedstates project): provide candidate, legislative, and news data. We do not send your personal information to retrieve them.
• Sentry (error monitoring): receives anonymous crash reports as described above, unless you turn crash reports off.
• YouTube: provides thumbnails for outlet videos. When you choose to watch one, Concord loads YouTube’s embedded player, and YouTube receives technical and playback information under Google’s privacy policy. The embedded player does not load until you tap a video.
• News outlet and public image hosts: lead images on news briefs, candidate portraits, and video thumbnails load directly from the publisher that provided them (a news outlet’s image servers, Wikimedia Commons, or YouTube’s thumbnail service). Like any web image, the host sees a standard image request from your device; Concord sends it nothing else about you.
• Stripe (donations): if you choose to donate, the payment page opens in your browser and is handled entirely by Stripe under Stripe’s own terms and privacy policy. Concord does not process the payment and never sees your card details, and no donation is required to use any part of the app.
• Apple (Concord Plus): if you subscribe, the purchase is made through Apple’s in-app purchase system under Apple’s terms and privacy policy. Apple tells the app only whether a subscription is active on your Apple ID. Concord receives no name, email, or payment details, keeps no record of the transaction on its servers, and never attaches your subscription to any answer you share.
• Official voting sites (vote.gov, usa.gov, house.gov): open in your browser when you tap a readiness link. Leaving the app, you are subject to those sites’ privacy practices.

Sharing and disclosure

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We do not share it for advertising. We may disclose information if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users and the service, but in this version there is no personal account data on our servers to disclose.

Data retention and deletion

Because your answers and location live on your device, they remain until you delete them. Use Account → “Delete my answers and start over” to erase your answers and saved location, or uninstall the app to remove all local data.

Children’s privacy

Concord is intended for users 13 and older and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will address it.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or port your personal information, and to opt out of its “sale” or “sharing.” Because Concord keeps your answers on your device and does not sell personal information, you can exercise the core of these rights directly through the in-app delete control. For any other request, contact us.

Security

Your data is stored using your device’s standard app storage. No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, but we limit risk by keeping personal data on your device and collecting as little as possible.

Accounts and future changes

A future version may add optional sign-in and cloud sync so your profile can follow you across devices. If and when that ships, this policy will be updated to describe what is stored on our servers, how it is secured, and the additional choices you will have. We will note material changes in the app.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. The “last updated” date above reflects the current version. Continued use after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Contact Side Yard Studio LLC at contact@sideyardstudio.co.