Privacy Policy
ProtestUSA is built for people who protest, so it's designed to know as little about you as it can. This page says exactly what we keep, why, and for how long.
What we collect
- Account: your handle (public), a one-way hash of your password, and your email address (private). We use the email only for sign-in codes, password resets and important account notices, never for marketing.
- Mobile number: used once, to text you a verification code. We then keep only a scrambled fingerprint of it, so the same number can't make a second account. The number itself isn't stored, and the fingerprint can't be turned back into it. We also keep the date you agreed to receive the verification text, as carriers require.
- Optional profile answers: generation, issues you care about and political leaning, only if you choose to give them. They're never shown with your handle and are only reported as totals for groups of 10 or more people.
- What you post: forum posts, reports, protests you add, photos and videos. Location and camera data are stripped from uploads, and uploads are deleted after 60 days. Reports record only the day they were made, not the time.
- "I'm here" check: your location is used once, in memory, to check you're at a protest; only a yes or no is saved.
- Weekly email (optional): if you ask for it, the ZIP code, distance and issues you chose. Deleted when you unsubscribe.
- “I'm going” and crowd estimates: held for up to a day with a scrambled code that stops double counting, then turned into plain totals and deleted, so they're never linked to your account after that.
- Site statistics: daily totals we count ourselves: visits, pages viewed, the website that linked you here, phone or computer, and how often features are used. Unique visitors are counted with a code that changes every day and is never stored. None of it identifies you.
- Cookie: one signed cookie keeps you logged in (and remembers which protests you marked “I'm going”). No advertising or analytics cookies.
What we don't collect
- Real names or home addresses.
- IP addresses: the server keeps no access logs, and rate limits hold only a scrambled version in memory for up to an hour.
- Outside analytics services, ads, trackers, or scripts and fonts from other companies.
- A record of which pages or protests any one person looked at.
Sharing
We don't sell or rent personal information, and we don't share it for advertising.
- No mobile numbers will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes.
- Text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties.
- Service providers process data only to run the site: Amazon Web Services hosts the site and sends our emails and verification texts (it receives only the address or number a message goes to); Zoho hosts our support mailbox.
- We'll disclose information only when the law requires it, such as a valid court order, and we'll tell affected users unless we're legally prevented. Because of how the site is built, there's very little to disclose: no IP logs, no phone numbers, no precise locations.
How long we keep things
- Verification codes: 15 minutes.
- Uploaded photos and videos: 60 days, or less if a moderator declines them.
- Your account and posts: until you delete them or ask us to. Email support@protestusa.com from your account's address to delete your account; we'll do it within 30 days.
- Server backups: replaced automatically within two weeks.
Your choices
You can see and change your email, phone confirmation and optional answers on your account page, and ask us for a copy of your data, a correction or deletion at support@protestusa.com. These rights apply to everyone, wherever you live.
Children
The site isn't for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them. If you think a child under 13 has an account, email us and we'll delete it.
Security
The site uses HTTPS everywhere, hashes passwords with Argon2, and keeps the least data it can. No system is perfectly secure, so don't post anything that could put you or others at risk; plan sensitive things on Signal.
Changes
If we change this policy, we'll update the date above and post a notice on the site for significant changes.