Transparency
How we handle
your trust.
Civic action depends on the rails underneath it. We publish ours. Every empirical claim is cited inline. Every partner is named at the moment of action. Every dark pattern we refuse is listed by name on this page.
non partisan
Non-partisan, with disclosure where it isn't.
Voter registration, candidate research, ballot information and civic learning carry zero partisan affiliation. Partisan actions exist; they're labeled.
Source content comes from BallotReady, Ballotpedia, the League of Women Voters and similar non-partisan equivalents — never from a campaign or party feed. Issue briefings use balanced sourcing (AllSides and Ground News). ActCiv does not publish political commentary.
Some actions are partisan by nature — donating to a candidate, volunteering for a campaign, signing an advocacy-org petition. When those appear, the partisan affiliation is disclosed next to the action. We don't endorse; we disclose.
sources
Every claim, sourced inline.
When we cite a number, it has a footnote. Every partner is named at the moment of action. If you can't check our math, you shouldn't trust it.
When we say a personalized letter carries 7× the weight of a form letter[1], the number has a footnote. When we say 95.9% of top sites fail WCAG[2], the number has a footnote.
Every partner that powers an action is named at the moment of action: Voter registration powered by TurboVote; donation routed through ActBlue; and so on. We do not hide the rails. Methodology and data-sharing for each integration appear on the confirmation screen.
privacy
Your data, kept yours.
Voter and donor data is politically sensitive. We treat it that way — no third-party analytics in sensitive flows, no ad-network pixels, ever.
- No third-party analytics inside donation, voting, or contact flows.
- No advertising-network pixels. Ever.
- User-controlled data export and account delete, both reachable in under three clicks from any settings screen.
- Disclosed data-sharing on every action — what crosses to a partner, what comes back.
- End-to-end encryption for user-generated content (drafts of letters, saved notes).
- Equal-prominence consent on any analytics opt-in. No pre-checked boxes.
- SOC 2 trajectory before Phase 2 launches. Annual transparency report once we have something worth reporting.
accessibility
Accessible by default, not as an afterthought.
Civic action is for everyone or it is for no one. WCAG 2.1 AA is the floor; we adopt the 2.2 criteria proactively.
Screen-reader testing on iOS Safari with VoiceOver as the primary target; NVDA on Windows as secondary. Reduced-motion preferences respected on every animation. No div buttons; real elements, real labels.
axe-core runs in CI on every change. Lighthouse accessibility score ≥ 95 blocks every release. Touch targets ≥ 48 CSS pixels, semantic headings only, focus indicators are visible and pass APCA on top of legacy WCAG contrast ratios.
funding
Who owns ActCiv, who pays for it.
Pape Enterprises, privately held. No undisclosed political donors. No party committees, no campaign vendors, no PAC money.
When ActCiv begins generating revenue, it will come from memberships, partner referral fees disclosed at the point of action, and grants from foundations that pass our own non-partisan and privacy criteria.
If a sponsor or grant would compromise the non-partisan posture, we don't take it. The standard is the standard.
The no-go list
The dark patterns we don't use — published so you can hold us to it.
Code review checks this list. If you ever spot a violation, tell us; we publish corrections.
- 01.
Nagging
No repeated modal prompts to enable notifications, upgrade, refer a friend. Max one prompt per opportunity, per session.
- 02.
Obstruction
Unsubscribe, account delete, and recurring-donation cancellation are each one click. Privacy controls are never buried.
- 03.
Sneaking
Recurring donations are never preselected. No surprise add-ons. No charges revealed only at checkout.
- 04.
Interface interference
Primary and secondary actions are visually balanced. No confirmshaming. No false hierarchy where cancel is greyed out.
- 05.
Forced action
Value is never gated behind signup. Notifications are never required to use a feature. First action does not need an account.
- 06.
Cookie consent
If a banner appears, reject is equally prominent as accept. No dark-pattern consent flows.
- 07.
Engagement metrics
We do not optimize for time-on-site. We optimize for actions completed and trust earned.
- 08.
Streak punishment
We count total actions. We do not run consecutive-day streaks, guilt UI, or fear-of-missing-out timers.
- 09.
Paid placement
No paid placement in candidate research, ballot information, or partner ranking. Ever.
- 10.
Ad networks
No tracking pixels. No data sharing with advertising networks. Not now, not later.
This page was last reviewed on 24 May 2026. Spotted something we got wrong, or something we should publish? hello@actciv.org.