Legal
Privacy Policy
How we handle your information on Pollie Tracker.
This policy explains what personal information Pollie Tracker collects when you use our website, why we collect it, and the choices you have. Last updated: 18 June 2026.
Overview
Pollie Tracker ("we", "us") is a non-partisan project that tracks Australian federal politicians' public statements and compares them to declared policy positions. We are not affiliated with any political party, government body, or media organisation.
We comply with the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) where they apply to our handling of personal information.
Information we collect
Account registration
If you create an account, we collect your email address and authentication credentials through our identity provider (Supabase Auth). We do not store your password in plain text.
Email notifications
If you subscribe to divergence alerts, weekly summaries, or bill alerts, we store your email address and your notification preferences (for example, minimum severity and alert types).
Local Pulse sign-up
If you join Local Pulse from the homepage, we collect your first name, last name, email address, optional location or electorate details, and your communications opt-in choice.
Why Politics Matters personalisation
If you complete the Why politics matters survey, we store your survey answers and the AI-generated personalised page against your account so we can show your briefing and include a short “Your Politics This Week” impact statement in the weekly newsletter. These answers are never sold. You can edit or delete them from your personalised page at any time.
Corrections & feedback
If you submit a correction or feedback via our corrections form, we collect the information you provide (which may include your name, email address, and the content of your submission).
Usage & technical data
Our hosting providers may automatically collect technical information such as IP address, browser type, device information, and request logs when you access the site. We use this information to operate, secure, and improve the service.
How we use information
- Provide and maintain your account and saved preferences.
- Send email notifications you have opted into (divergence alerts, summaries, bill updates).
- Personalise the Why Politics Matters page and weekly “Your Politics This Week” newsletter block from your survey answers (with explicit consent).
- Respond to correction requests and support enquiries.
- Personalise local electorate context when you choose a location.
- Operate, secure, and debug the website and data-ingest pipeline.
- Improve our methodology and editorial review processes.
We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your information for political campaigning or targeted advertising on behalf of any party or candidate.
Third-party services
We use trusted service providers to run the product, including:
- Supabase — database, authentication, and serverless functions (data hosting).
- OpenAI — AI embedding and analysis of public statement text to detect policy divergences (see methodology).
- Email delivery providers (for example Resend) — to send notifications you subscribe to.
- Hosting / CDN — to serve the web application.
These providers process data on our behalf under their own terms and privacy policies. Public politician statements may also be retrieved from third-party sources (parliamentary APIs, RSS feeds, and official social platforms) as described on our methodology & sources.
Public political data
The core of Pollie Tracker is publicly available political information: Hansard transcripts, media releases, official social posts, and declared party policies. This information relates to public figures performing official duties and is processed for accountability journalism and civic transparency.
If you are a federal parliamentarian and believe we have inaccurately represented your public statements, please use our correction form.
Retention & security
We retain account and subscription data while your account or subscription is active, and for a reasonable period afterwards so we can honour unsubscribe requests and resolve disputes. Correction submissions are retained as long as needed for editorial review and audit purposes.
We apply reasonable technical and organisational measures — including access controls, encrypted transport (HTTPS), and role-based admin access — to protect personal information. No online service can guarantee absolute security.
Your rights
Depending on applicable law, you may have the right to:
- Request access to personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction of inaccurate information.
- Request deletion of your account or unsubscribe from emails.
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent (for example, Local Pulse opt-in).
- Lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
Account holders can update notification preferences in notification settings. To request access or deletion, contact us using the details below.
Children
Pollie Tracker is intended for a general adult audience interested in Australian politics. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will change when we do. Material changes may also be noted on the homepage or in notification emails where appropriate.
Contact
For privacy enquiries, access requests, or complaints, email contact@pollietracker.org or submit a message via our corrections form.