For your reading pleasure…
we present to you:
The Privacy Policy

NewGrassRoots is a service provided by Vermont-based company, NewGrassRoots LLC. NewGrassRoots LLC is committed to protecting the privacy of our visitors and users. We have established this privacy policy to explain in detail what information we collect and how we use it.

NewGrassRoots (NGR) collects personal information in order to help our users (voters) communicate directly with legislators and other elected officials. We take great care to ensure that this information remains private. We do not sell our users’ information, nor do we distribute any personal user data for any purpose other than providing you with the information and services you have requested.

If you have any questions about our security practices or this policy, please contact us at info@newgrassroots.com. Please read below for our complete privacy policy, and check this page periodically for alterations or amendments – we will occasionally modify this policy in order to ensure that it contains current information about our privacy practices.

Do not use this site or provide us with information if you do not agree with all of the terms.

 

WHEN YOU VISIT THE NEWGRASSROOTS SITE

NGR uses Google Analytics to monitor user traffic and visitor trends on the NGR website. When you visit the NGR website, we record basic information such as your IP address, referral source, browser type, and the date and time of your visit. We use this data only on an aggregate basis – for example, to know which pages are most popular or how many people visit the site on a given day. This information helps us improve the NGR site and our voice message delivery services. We do not link this information to your NGR account or identity.

WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR NEWGRASSROOTS SERVICES

When you register for an account or use NGR to send a voice message to your legislator, we do store personally identifiable information, including your name, address, email address, phone number and other identifying information.

Information you provide will be used primarily to provide you with the services made available by NGR (“Services”) according to your request. For example:

  • If you send a voice message to your legislator, your name, town, email address, and phone number are provided, so legislators can verify you as a constituent and/or contact you if a response has been requested.
  • You are provided the option to share your voice messages on social media, to encourage those in your network to make their own voices heard. Sharing on third-party platforms makes your data subject to their privacy policies as well, which you should read.
  • If you complete a district-based survey, using the NGR website or touch-tone Interactive Voice Response (IVR) interface, your responses are aggregated by district and made available to legislators. Anonymous survey-results may also be made publicly available, so voters can also be privy to the needs in their communities, to collaborate with legislators in finding solutions.

COOKIES

Cookies are small pieces of data stored on your computer for a prolonged period of time that make NGR easier to use by saving your status and preferences. We use session cookies to keep track of the information you enter while you fill out a registration form. To simplify registration and login, we may use cookies to recognize when you return to NGR. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies, but you may be able to change the settings to refuse cookies or to be alerted when cookies are being sent.

DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION

We may disclose personally identifiable information about you to third parties in limited circumstances, including: (1) with your consent; or (2) when we have a good-faith belief it is required by law, such as pursuant to a subpoena or other judicial or administrative order.

If we are required by law to disclose the information that you have submitted, we will attempt to provide you with notice (unless we are prohibited) that a request for your information has been made in order to give you an opportunity to object to the disclosure. We will attempt to provide this notice by email if you have given us an email address, or by postal mail if you have entered a postal address. If you do not challenge the disclosure request, we may be legally required to turn over your information.

In addition, we will independently object to requests for access to information about users of our site that we believe to be improper.

THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS

NGR works with third party service providers and partners to verify your address, send out our newsletter, send your voice messages to legislators, and to otherwise assist us in providing our service to you, and we transmit your information them for these purposes. We do not share any information with these service providers or partners beyond what is necessary to provide you with their services.

We do not sell your information and neither do our service providers or partners. As of the date of this privacy policy [March 22, 2020] our third party service providers and partners with whom we share your information are:

  • SmartyStreets: SmartyStreets helps us map your physical address and ensure that your information is valid 
  • Twilio: We use Twilio’s services to record voice messages, call users’ telephones, provide voice recognition services and send text messages
  • SendGrid (owned by Twilio): We use SendGrid for sending emails required to provide services
  • MailChimp: We may rely on MailChimp to send you email reminders and notifications
  • OpenStates: We use OpenStates.org to cross reference legislative data and verify which district a user should be assigned to
  • MongoDB: We use MongoDB for data-base needs, to store and retrieve information the application needs to serve users

Our third-party service providers and partners may change from time to time, and we will endeavor to update the list on our privacy policy promptly after any such change. If you have any questions about how we, or any of our service providers or partners, use your information, or if you would like to know if we have made any changes to our service providers or partners since the date of this privacy policy, please contact us at info@newgrassroots.com.

NEWGRASSROOTS PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

If you’re signing up via one of our partnering organizations, that partner also has access to your profile information, your call-statistics *related only to that organization’s call-campaigns which you participated in, and general information about the services we provide you. They may contact you separately. Our partners are committed to your privacy and do not sell your information.

Security

NGR uses industry-standard security measures to protect the information you provide to us. Information you submit is encrypted through a Secured Socket Layer (SSL) connection, which protects the data in transit. We also encrypt all communication with our mail services provider to ensure that your data remains secure when being transmitted.

Although we make good faith efforts to store information securely, we cannot guarantee complete security. NGR shall not be responsible for any harm that you or any person may suffer as a result of a breach of confidentiality of any information you transmit to the NGR site.

Updating or Removing Your Information

You may choose to correct, update, or delete the user information you have submitted to us. However, please understand that deleted information may persist in our backup files.

Children’s Privacy

NGR is intended for voting-age adults and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 years of age. If you are a parent or legal guardian of a child under age 13 who you believe has submitted personal information to us, please contact us immediately at info@newgrassroots.com.