About Vote Monitor

Vote monitor is a tool dedicated to independent observers and international organisations who engage in election monitoring. This instrument consists of two components, a web app and a mobile one. The mobile instrument helps independent observers send in real-time data from the polling stations in order to identify potential red flags that may indicate fraud or other irregularities and to collect statistical information about the electoral process. The web dashboard allows for observer management, form design, data processing, analysis, and export. 

PRIVACY POLICY

What does this Policy cover 

- This policy applies to Vote Monitor mobile application. 

- Taking care of your information is important for Vote Monitor.  This Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use and store your personal information and the steps we take to protect your information. 

- Please read our Privacy Policy carefully before connecting to the application as an authorised user and refer to it regularly to check for updates. Remember, by accessing and using Vote Monitor you agree to all provisions of this Privacy Policy.  

- We remind you not to share information that could help others to identify you on any of our channels or social media, such as your full name, physical address or place of residence, school name or address, phone number, email address, and social media account details.  

- Please note that any personal information you share through Vote Monitor can be viewed by the organisation that has authorized you as an independent observer. If you have not been authorized as an observer you will not be able to acces the Vote Monitor application and its functionalities dedicated to authorized observers. Vote Monitor does not allow for individual independent account creation. Accounts will be created by the organisations who authorize observers and invite each authorized person within the application. We are not responsible for what others might do with such information, so please remember to be careful with what you post through the application once authorized to use it. 

- As used in this Privacy Policy, "we"," "us," and "our" refers to Code for Romania/Commit Global. The terms "you," "your", "yours", and "user" refer to you as the individual accessing or using Vote Monitor.   

What is not covered by this Policy 

- The personal and non-personal information captured by Vote Monitor mobile application. The data captured will be transferred to the Vote Monitor web application accessible solely to the organisations that have authorized observers to monitor elections. 

- Third-party sites linked to Vote Monitor web application, apps, and websites are not covered by this Privacy Policy. Their privacy policy governs the collection, use and processing of information on such sites. None of the personal information collected via Vote Monitor mobile application or stored and processed by the Vote Monitor web application are transferred to any third party system or individuals. However, we strongly encourage you to review and make sure you are comfortable with the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy of third-party sites, apps, and platforms before engaging with them. 

How do we protect your personal information? 

We are committed to collecting minimal personal information. The aim of Vote Monitor is to be helpful to you and make you feel safe as you use it and interact with its content and features.  

- We will not use your personal information other than for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. 

- We will not sell your personal information. 

- We will not keep your Personal Information for longer than is necessary for the stated purposes except to the extent required by regulations. 

- We will take all reasonable and necessary technical and organizational measures to protect your Personal Information. 

- Where we use third parties to host Vote Monitor information or to provide services to us, we have implemented contractual arrangements to ensure the confidentiality and security of the information. 

What kind of information does Vote Monitor collect about you? 

For the purpose of this Privacy Policy, "Personal Information" means any information that enables us to identify an individual, directly or indirectly, by reference to an identifier such as name, identification number, location data, online identifier or one or more factors specific to the individual.  

Upon account creation 

A. Information to log in the system

The registration process to Vote Monitor is managed by the organisations that have authorized you as an independent observer. Upon registering as an observer through the means made available by each organisation you will provide them with personal information as per the necessary legal procedures. Out of such information your email address and phone number will be used to create an observer account for you in the Vote Monitor mobile application. Once your account has been created by the organisation you will be prompted with a notification to set your own login credentials to be able to use the mobile app. 

This information allows Vote Monitor to log you into the mobile application and to support ongoing communications, as teh organisation can send you push notifications through the day in the app and also provides you with support during elections. 

B. When you access and use Vote Monitor 

- On the app, we collect information on the device you use to access the app, such as the model, operating system, language, location, and the session's duration. 

How is my information stored? 

We use a web application - Vote Monitor web - to create your account and to store all the information you generate in the application by answering the available forms. Code for Romania/Commit Global has in place data protection and privacy safeguards to handle your information only for specific and necessary purposes stated in this Privacy Policy. Code for Romania/Commit Global has legally binding memorandums of understanding with all of the organisations that use the Vote Monitor ecosystem of apps that clearly state the information presented in this Privacy Policy. 

How long does Vote Monitor keep my information? 

We will only use and store your personal information for so long as it is required for the purposes it was collected for. We use your personal information as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements and rights.  

How and why Vote Monitor may share your personal information 

Keeping your information confidential is important to us. We will generally only share non-personal and aggregate information captured through the Vote Monitor app. Circumstances where we may share non-personal information include: 

- publishing reports with statistical information about the electoral event you have monitored. 

The limited personal information we hold may be shared only in exceptional circumstances, and only for specific and necessary purposes. We may share personal information: 

- With your permission. For instance, if you need urgent assistance. We may seek your permission through direct messages.  

- To fulfil a legal requirement, enforce our Terms of Use, or protect anyone's rights, privacy, safety, or property and for other lawful purposes. 

Any third party that obtains access to personal information is under contractual obligation to have data protection and privacy safeguards similar to ours. They are permitted to handle the personal information they have access to only for specific and necessary purposes following our instructions. This also holds in situations where personal information is transferred internationally. 

How secure is my information processed by Vote Monitor? 

We use many reasonable measures – physical and electronic – to protect your Personal Information against unauthorised access and disclosure. However, it is always possible that third parties may unlawfully intercept or access your Personal Information or private communications. So, although we work extremely hard to safeguard your information, we cannot guarantee that your information or communications will always remain private.  

We also ask that you do your part to safeguard your Personal Information.  

- Activate a unique PIN or password code to access your phone or device. Make it personal and not easy for others to guess. Do not use your date of birth or your name, for example.  

- Use a strong password to connect to the Vote Monitor. Do not share this password with anyone. 

- Be careful about connecting to Vote Monitor, using insecure Wi-Fi. Public Wi-Fi, for example, is inherently insecure — so be cautious. 

- Set up a feature that will allow you to erase all the data from your device if it's lost or stolen. 

What are my rights as a user of Vote Monitor? 

- You have the right to request your personal information stored on the Vote Monitor server. You can change it, delete it, and refuse its use. To do this, send and email to contact@code4.ro. 

- You have the right to be informed about your rights in the use of Vote Monitor.  To do this, send and email to contact@code4.ro. 

- You have the right to request deletion of your registration and stored data at any time.  To do this, send and email to contact@code4.ro. 

How do I stop being a user of Vote Monitor and delete my information? 

You have the right to request deletion of your registration and stored information at any time.  To do this, send and email to contact@code4.ro or contact the organisation that has authorized you as an observer. 

Notifications of Changes to the Privacy Policy 

We review our security measures and our Privacy Policy, and we may modify our policies as we deem appropriate. If we change our privacy policies, we will send a push notification to your device alerting that the Privacy Policy has been amended. Such changes will be effective immediately upon informing you. For this reason, we encourage you to check our Privacy Policy frequently.  The "Last Updated" date at the bottom of this page indicates when this Privacy Policy was last revised. Your continued use of our site following these changes means that you accept the revised Privacy Policy. 

Contact Us 

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or Vote Monitor, please get in touch with us at contact@code4.ro 

Last Updated: 16 May 2024