Cookie & Data Policy | 9th District Poll

Our Promise: Minimal Data Collection

9th District Poll is designed to collect the absolute minimum data necessary to operate. We do not require accounts, we do not track you across the internet, and we do not sell, share, or monetize any data. This site exists solely to facilitate public opinion polling on elected officials as a matter of public concern.

What We Collect

One thing:

Vote fingerprint - When you cast a vote, we generate a one-way cryptographic hash from your IP address and browser user-agent string. This short, irreversible hash is stored in our database and used to prevent duplicate votes. If you attempt to vote again from the same device and network, the system regenerates the hash and checks it against existing records. If it matches, the duplicate vote is rejected. No raw IP addresses, user-agent strings, or personally identifiable information is ever stored - only the anonymous hash.

What We Do NOT Collect

No names, emails, or accounts
No raw IP addresses (only an irreversible hash)
No location tracking or geolocation
No advertising cookies or tracking pixels
No cross-site tracking
No social media trackers
No analytics beyond basic page views
No data sold to third parties - ever

Cookies & Third-Party Services

This website is hosted on Vercel and uses Google Firebase Realtime Database for storing poll data and news content. These services may set minimal technical cookies required for their operation:

Vercel - May set performance-related cookies for content delivery. No personal data is collected. See Vercel Privacy Policy.
Firebase - Used for realtime data synchronization. Firebase may use cookies for connection management. No Firebase Analytics or Firebase Authentication is enabled. See Firebase Privacy Policy.

We do not use Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook Pixel, or any other advertising or behavioral tracking service.

The Vote Fingerprint Explained

When you cast a vote, we generate a SHA-256 cryptographic hash from a combination of your IP address and browser user-agent string. This is a one-way mathematical function - the resulting 12-character string cannot be reversed to recover your original data. Think of it like a shredder: the original document cannot be reconstructed from the shredded output.

This hash is stored server-side in our database. When you return to the site, the system regenerates the hash from your current IP and browser and checks it against existing records. If a match is found, the interface reflects your previous vote and prevents duplicate voting. No data is stored on your device.

Example: IP 192.168.1.1 + Chrome/120 User Agent

Becomes: a3f8c9d1e2b7 (irreversible)

Original data: NOT stored anywhere

Your Rights

Because we collect virtually no personal data, there is very little to manage. However:

You can use a VPN or different browser to generate a different fingerprint
You can browse the entire site without voting, in which case zero data is collected about you
Contact privacy@9thdistrict.com with any data-related questions

Legal Basis

This website publishes public opinion polls about elected government officials as a matter of public concern. The minimal data we collect is necessary for the legitimate operation of the polling system (preventing ballot stuffing). All content on this site constitutes protected speech under:

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
Article I, Section 5 of the Michigan Constitution
The Michigan Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (Public Act 52 of 2025, HB 4045)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964)

Questions about this policy? Contact privacy@9thdistrict.com