The POPVOX Blog

Articles From June 2011

PRESS RELEASE: Political Startup Shows Users "What We Know About You"

by annalee on June 21, 2011

June 21, 2011, WASHINGTON, DC ― POPVOX, Inc., the award-winning political social advocacy platform, today released a cutting-edge privacy policy that includes a What We Know About You customized report and a unique first-party approach to Do Not Track (DNT) guidelines.

“The revised POPVOX policy incorporates existing standards and proposes a new standard that we hope privacy experts and other websites will consider,” POPVOX Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Joshua Tauberer said. “Months of surveying users identified privacy as a universal issue, but it was clear that legalese could only be one part of our response to the specific questions and concerns we heard.”

POPVOX focused on policy, protocols and transparency: A “What We Know About You” report shows logged in users the personal information POPVOX has on file, how the information is used, and why it is important. Additionally, the groundbreaking policy commits to DNT compliance and and suggests that DNT guidelines be extended to cover the responsibilities of so-called "first-parties."

“Current Do Not Track guidelines permit a compliant website to embed non-compliant resources,” Tauberer explained. “We think that websites that have committed to the Do Not Track header should only embed resources that honor DNT when the visiting user has turned on the option in their browser.”

“In most cases, privacy concerns are about trust,” Tauberer said. “With these steps we’re signaling our commitment to privacy and transparency through our actions.”

For more information, visit https://www.popvox.com/legal or Tauberer’s blog post on the new policy at: http://www.popvox.com/blog/2011/06/20/new-popvox-privacy-tool/

About POPVOX

POPVOX is an innovative advocacy platform that meshes legislative data with individuals’ personal stories and sentiment. Winner of the social media category in the 2011 SxSW BizSpark Accelerator startup competition, POPVOX delivers public input to Congress in a format tailored to actionable policy decisions and empowers users to leverage their expertise and numbers. POPVOX provides a legislative dashboard for Congress and government affairs professionals with bill status information, customized tracking, bill-specific advocacy information, and real-time constituent sentiment and comments. For more information, visit: www.popvox.com
New cutting-edge privacy policy, What We Know About You report, and a commitment to the Do Not Track

by josh on June 20, 2011

A privacy policy page can be pretty boring. Not ours. We're announcing a few changes to our privacy page today including something pretty unique: our "What We Know About You Privacy Report".

What I describe below came about because of the generous advice and critique we have received from users and privacy experts on the subject.

The Privacy Report

The Privacy Report shows each individual user the exact information that POPVOX has on file about them and why and what we do with that information. It lists your information in categories such as your email address, your street address, and your bookmarked bills and explains why it's important for us to keep this information on file. For instance, we maintain for a period of time a record of all delivered correspondence to your Members of Congress, even if you subsequently delete your comment, in order to protect the integrity of our relationship with you and Members of Congress. We don't want someone claiming we didn't send a letter when we did, or that we sent a letter when we didn't.

You have to be logged in to see what we know about you, of course.

Privacy Policy and Terms of Service

On June 6 we updated our Privacy Policy based on feedback we had gotten early on. Although it's become relatively common practice for websites that email you to track whether or not you opened their emails, there is no real consensus on whether this is an acceptable practice or not. So we decided we wouldn't do it. We had left open the possibility in a paragraph in our Privacy Policy alarmingly called "non-obvious pingbacks" --- when we wrote the policy I felt we should call it like it is --- but we never used a non-obvious pingback and we didn't see a compelling reason why we'd want to use one in the future. So we removed that paragraph from our privacy policy, meaning we won't do that.

That was the first change to the Privacy Policy since we first published it in January. With this change we started a 'History of Changes to This Policy' section at the end so that you can see what we've changed. (We will let our users know before we make any substantive changes.)

On both the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service we've also added some friendly commentary in the right margins.

Do Not Track

Do Not Track (DNT) is a new approach to allowing web users the ability to state their preference to opt-out of being tracked by services they may not be aware are collecting data about them. Although there is no one adopted standard for how web sites are supposed to behave in order to be Do Not Track-compliant, POPVOX has taken some initial steps.

DNT is essentially only relevant to advertisers (not us) and widgets. We provide a number of widgets that blogs and advocacy websites can embed to show information from POPVOX. Most of our widgets are already compliant with the prevailing DNT guidelines, and we're working on making all of our widgets DNT-compliant soon.

Although the Do Not Track guidelines are not actually relevant when you visit POPVOX.com directly, we take the unprecedented extra step of embedding only DNT-compliant third-party resources on POPVOX if you have turned on your browser’s DNT option. That means that when you visit POPVOX.com, your DNT preference will be respected by us and any other web content loaded on our site by your browser.

Right now what that means is that we won't embed Google Maps on POPVOX if you have the DNT option turned on in your browser because we know Google Maps will not respect your DNT choice. (Actually only about 3% of our users will ever be shown a Google Map anyway --- we use it in a small number of cases to help you pick out your location.) All of the other third-party resources we currently embed in POPVOX follow the DNT tracking guidelines (they haven't adopted DNT but they comply with the guidelines anyway).

I think we're unique in actually changing the content of our pages in response to your DNT choice to make sure that your POPVOX experience respects your choice, even if DNT itself doesn't say anything about doing that.

For more see our DNT page .

And of course feel free to send us any suggestions for further improvements to our privacy policy and practices.
Congressmen consider Modernizing Information Delivery

by josh on June 16, 2011

When in DC, attend a hearing.

All right, maybe a hearing isn't quite as fun as the Smithsonian, but if you can attend a hearing on an issue you're passionate about it can be pretty rewarding. I've been passionately advocating for improved transparency for many years now, and there were two hearings today about transparency.

The House Committee on House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing on reducing costs and improving transparency through the use of electronic publications . The subcommittee chairman (pictured at left below) viewed it as a matter of fiscal responsibility: does the House need to print 441 copies of the daily House calendar --- one for each office.

[caption id="attachment_521" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Chairman Phil Gingrey and Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren"] [/caption]

The subcommittee did something somewhat unusual in calling as witnesses two of their colleagues, Rep. Mike Honda (CA) and Rep. Greg Walden (OR). I was a little disappointed by their testimony. Honda is formerly one of the transparency movement's heros in Congress. I even wrote a limerick about him a few years ago:

There once was a man named Mike Honda,

A congressman us geeks are quite fond 'a,

In markup sessions takes on the chairman, a hulk,

so that we the people can get our data in bulk.

(And the rhymes get worse. For the rest of the poem and some other geeky poems, see this thread .)

Honda's office worked with us transparency geeks on congressional data transparency. In the hearing, he and Walden discussed how to reduce Congress's printing costs. Nothing noteworthy.

You do get to feel like you're getting a special glimpse of Congress when you go in person. Although the subcommittee has six members , only three were present. There were far more staffers present than congressmen, but that's not unusual. Rep. Zoe Logfren sat beside the chairman (Rep. Phil Gingrey) and raised issues including how to further transparency, how to be mindful of the digital divide, and how to accommodate Members of Congress who aren't very digital. (There are two things to note about Lofgren. First, her name is pronounced "Zoh" rather than "Zoee". Second, she's the Ranking Member, which is the term for the committee member with the highest seniority in the minority party (currently the Democrats). Committee chairs are always selected from the majority party (currently Republicans).)

It's also nice when you know some of the people in the room, so bring friends. Two of my friends from the Sunlight Foundation also attended, and I knew one of the witnesses, Tom Bruce, who directs Cornell University's Legal Information Institute. Tom's testimony was the most on-point as it related to congressional transparency. He noted that electronic legal documents have a variety of uses, from improving and reducing costs of the internal workings of Congress to created a marketplace of information useful for businesses, and of course transparency. Tom mentioned my other project, GovTrack.us , in his written testimony to the committee --- thanks Tom! Hopefully the congressmen will turn some of those points into real improvements.

Anyone can attend a hearing. They're held in the congressional office buildings, which surround the Capitol Building, where security is just a metal detector, so you can walk right in. The only time you might be prevented from attending is if the hearing room gets full. That's normal for high-profile policy issues. But committees are getting better about posting videos of their meetings online --- most have videos up promptly now.

At the same time as the hearing I was at, a mark-up session was going on elsewhere with an ironic twist. Although that committee meeting was deliberating funding for government transparency programs, it was not held in a transparent way. Daniel Schuman from the Sunlight Foundation wrote beforehand:

Unfortunately, the hearing will take place in a tiny room in the Capitol, so it is very difficult for members of the public to attend. It won’t be webcast, despite House rules requiring committees to “provide audio and video coverage … in a manner that allows the public to easily listen to and view the proceedings,” so you can’t watch the action online.

Committees do some of the most important work of Congress, and while committee transparency has improved markedly even in the short time that I've been following these things, there is still a long way to go.
Bills Discussed in First Republican Presidential Debate

by marci on June 13, 2011

Whew! Just finished first experiment tweeting out bills mentioned in tonight's CNN Debate at St. Anselm's in New Hampshire. Can't figure out the best way to preserve the tweets, so for now, it's copy and paste. Any suggestions of better way? (BTW - anyone got a better Twitter handle for Cain?)

@RonPaul_2012 mentioned #FederalReserve Transparency Act bit.ly/k44Tf8 #CNNDebate

#HConRes58 bit.ly/m3OTQ4 Expressing disapproval of United States intervention in Libya . #CNNDebate

#HR780 Responsible End to the War in #Afghanistan Act bit.ly/gCsR7P #CNNDebate

Repeal #Ethanol Subsidies Today #HR1188 bit.ly/lGNFYZ #HR426 Remove Incentives 4 Producing Ethanol bit.ly/iZBNml #CNNDebate

To repeal the Volumetric #Ethanol Excise #Tax Credit #S1057 bit.ly/lqJVSb #HR1075 bit.ly/gwitSE #CNNDebate

RE: eminent domain #HR1433 Private Property Rights Protection Act bit.ly/lvXzW4 #CNNDebate

#HConRes29 Sense of Congress that state & local govs should be supported in illegal immigration prevention bit.ly/jvNfKb #CNNDebate

@JohnKingCNN asks about Birthright Citizenship #HR140 bit.ly/jo8lxY #S723 bit.ly/jZpR23 #CNNDebate

#CNNDebate No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act #S906 bit.ly/m3PJRV #HR3 bit.ly/hF5Tn1

#HJRes45 Constitutional Amendment marriage "only of the union of a man and a woman" bit.ly/meMVAK #CNNDebate

#HR1116 Respect for Marriage Act ensuring state regulation of marriage bit.ly/glX7XZ #CNNDebate

See #HConRes13 Reaffirming "In God We Trust" as motto of US & encouraging public display bit.ly/hhVD4H #CNNDebate

@newtgingrich mentions @RepTomPrice bill #HR1700 Medicare Patient Empowerment Act bit.ly/kEwIcP #CNNDebate

#HConRes34 The #RyanBudget is mentioned: bit.ly/khSP9W #CNNDebate

#S216 Food Safety Accountability Act bit.ly/dOuLwG #CNNDebate

#HR1641 REAL Space Act : to return to the moon & develop human presence there bit.ly/kMDOrw #CNNDebate

#HR189 To repeal TARP & prevent future bailouts bit.ly/mQkGOK #CNNDebate

Currently there is no bill pending that relates to the Leno/Conan question. #CNNDebate.

We're trying to keep up with bills mentioned by candidates in the #CNNDebate, with links to POPVOX action pages. DM us if we miss any!

National Right to Work Act #S504 bit.ly/kTdu3s #HR2040 bit.ly/j8T1Fd #CNNDebate

Unemployment mentioned. See #HR589: Emergency Unemployment Compensation Expansion bit.ly/f2lCq5 #CNNDebate

@NewtGingrich mentions repeal of individual mandate . See #HR21: bit.ly/kU3agQ #CNNDebate

@MittRomney mentions state waivers for health reform . See #HR1184 bit.ly/mGEmBd #CNNDebate

Questioner asks about repeal of health reform | See #HR2 bit.ly/mFVxn9 #CNNDebate

@newtgingrich mentions repealing Dodd-Frank See #HR87 | Weigh in: bit.ly/iR9444 #CNNDebate

@CainPress mentioned repatriation of foreign income . See #HR516 bit.ly/me7BH7 #CNNDebate
Hey, Issue Groups - Congress is looking for YOU on POPVOX!

by marci on June 13, 2011

If your organization takes positions on bills, Congressional staffers are looking for you on POPVOX!

Staffers WANT to know your organization's position on bills. It helps them do their jobs. Increasingly, Congressional staff are turning to POPVOX to find out where organizations stand on pending bills. POPVOX provides a platform for any nonprofit organization, trade association or community group to create a profile, maintain a legislative agenda of priorities, and register positions on bills so that Congressional staff can easily find it -- whether they want to pull a quote, find a witness for a hearing, or contact you for more information. How do we know? Search results. Those searches that lead staffers to POPVOX are overwhelmingly bill titles or nicknames (87%) increasingly with words like "oppose" "supporters of" "organizations opposing" or "letters in support" (12%). The rest are looking for information about POPVOX (9%) or our " Hill 101 " blog series (4%). These search keywords show up in Google Analytics reports, not tied to any personally identifiable information. We know they come from staffers because the service provider is identified as either "U.S. House of Representatives" or "United States Senate". Are we surprised? Not at all. POPVOX was designed to give staffers the information they need. Staffers are looking for quotes, perspectives, explanations and rationales so that they can make a well-reasoned recommendation to their boss. I know, I was that staffer! Where else can they find this information? It's tougher than you might think. They may eventually Google their way to the legislative page of your website, BUT, if affecting policy is your priority, why would you make them work so hard to find out where you stand? POPVOX is designed to get your message to Congress the way Congress needs to receive it. Read more about posting your organization's position on POPVOX . And get started! Don't miss an opportunity to put your message in front of key players in the legislative process... especially when they are searching for it!
POPVOX Brings Professional Advocacy to Any Website

by annalee on June 6, 2011

CONTACT: Rachna Choudhry, Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer, {% obfuscated_email "rachna@popvox.com" %}.

June 6, 2011, NEW YORK ― POPVOX, Inc., an award-winning Silicon Valley and Washington, DC-based startup today announced a free “Write Congress Widget,” which allows any website to let visitors weigh in on bills pending before the U.S. Congress using the powerful POPVOX platform. CEO, Marci Harris, announced the free tool ― the first of its kind ― at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York, which explores and analyzes technology's impact on politics and government.

“Citizen organizing through social media is bringing revolutionary change around the world,” said Harris, a former Congressional staffer. “Grassroots tools for outreach to the US Congress have not kept pace Until now, costs were high and the user experience was less than optimal. The POPVOX Write Congress Widget changes that. Anyone with a website ― from a national interest group to a local blog ― can now effectively get their users’ message to Congress in a targeted, effective way.”

The free “Write Congress” widget embeds the powerful POPVOX advocacy tool onto any website. Visitors weigh in on a featured bill and POPVOX takes care of the rest. Constituent information is verified; messages are counted and aggregated on POPVOX.com and messages are delivered to the appropriate Members of Congress, with delivery confirmation.

For more information, visit https://www.popvox.com/services/widgets.

About POPVOX

POPVOX is an innovative advocacy platform that meshes legislative data with individuals’ personal stories and sentiment. Winner of the social media category in the 2011 SxSW BizSpark Accelerator startup competition, POPVOX delivers public input to Congress in a format tailored to actionable policy decisions and empowers users to leverage their expertise and numbers. POPVOX provides a legislative dashboard for Congress and government affairs professionals with bill status information, customized tracking, bill-specific advocacy information, and real-time constituent sentiment and comments. For more information, visit: www.popvox.com
Harness the power of POPVOX with widgets!

by rachna on June 6, 2011

I’m excited to share with you POPVOX’s newest advocacy tool (drum roll, please): POPVOX's Write Congress widget . (And did I mention it's free to use?)

The “Write Congress” widget embeds POPVOX’s powerful advocacy tool onto your own website. By using our widget, your site visitors send a message to their own Members of Congress in the comfort of your website.

And since it's powered by POPVOX:

-- Constituent information is verified for Congressional offices.

-- Support (or opposition) messages from activists are aggregated to show quantified grassroots power.

-- Users are assured that their messages are delivered to Congress—and receive a confirmation when their messages are sent.

How it Works

The POPVOX widgets are easy to load onto any site that allows you to paste html code and embed iframes, including WordPress. Simply complete the customization form and copy and paste the HTML code onto your own website!

Get started at www.popvox.com/services/widgets .

Interested in Customizing the Widget?

Organizations interested in fully customized widgets with your own colors and style or inserting your own talking points as suggestions for comments to Congress should consider upgrading to the PRO version. (And your organization can be the first to try out our upcoming analytics dashboard and CRM integration.)

Please contact me directly at rachna@popvox.com for details. We look forward to working with you to harness the power of POPVOX on your site!