Privacy policy.

1. Who we are

Joliet Votes (jolietvotes.com) is operated by Residents for Joliet (Pending Org Formation) (20 Member Council) (All Voluntary Grassroots) (“we,” “us”). It is an independent, nonpartisan civic information website.

We are not affiliated with, operated by, sponsored by, or endorsed by the City of Joliet, the Joliet Police Department, Will County, Kendall County, or any government agency, political party, or candidate.

Our core principle is data minimization: we do not sell personal information, we do not use advertising trackers, and we collect only what a feature needs to work. We count visits with Seline, a cookie-free, privacy-focused analytics service that does not identify individual visitors.

2. Browsing the site

You can read representative profiles, local issues, The Joliet Record, resources, and voting information without an account and without giving us any personal information.

Our hosting provider automatically records standard technical data such as IP address, browser type, and the time of a request. This is used only for security, abuse prevention, and keeping the site running. We do not use advertising cookies, cross-site tracking, or data brokers.

The voting checklist and other on-page tools run in your browser and are not sent to us.

3. Neighborhood concerns

When you share a concern we collect the category, a general area, your description, and, only if you choose to give it, an email address so we can reply.

• Concerns are reviewed privately by our team to understand community issues and point residents to the right office.
• Concerns are never published with your personal details and are never sent automatically to the City, the police, or any agency.
• A concern is not a 911 call, police report, FOIA request, or city service request.
• Concerns are kept for up to 365 days and then deleted.

4. Community petitions

Petition support is not being collected right now. When it opens, the rules below will apply.

• We email a one-time link or code to confirm you are a real person and to prevent duplicate support.
• Your email is stored as a keyed code, not shown publicly, and not given to the petition recipient. Only the total number of verified supporters is published.
• You can withdraw your support at any time from the petition page.
• Unfinished sign-ups expire and are removed automatically.

5. Correction requests

When you ask us to correct something, we collect the page, the issue, any supporting source, and an optional reply address. Requests are reviewed privately and used only to check and fix the record.

6. Staff and volunteer accounts

Approved staff and volunteers sign in with a one-time code sent to an approved email address. No passwords are used. We keep their email, role, and a history of the changes they make so every edit is accountable.

7. Emails we send

We only send emails you trigger: a petition confirmation, a staff sign-in code, or a reply you asked for. We do not send marketing email or newsletters without separate, explicit consent.

8. When we share information

We never sell, rent, or trade personal information. We share it only:

• with service providers that host the site and deliver email for us, under their own confidentiality obligations;
• when you ask us to share something on your behalf;
• when required by law, subpoena, or court order;
• to protect someone from an imminent threat of serious harm.

9. Links to other websites

Many pages link to government offices and news outlets. Before you leave, we show a notice that you are leaving Joliet Votes. Those sites have their own privacy policies, and listing or linking them does not mean they endorse us or we endorse them.

10. Security

The site uses encrypted connections (HTTPS). Private information is protected by access rules so only authorized staff can see it, according to their role. No system is perfectly secure, and we will notify affected people as required by Illinois law if a breach occurs.

11. Children

Joliet Votes is a general civic resource and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Your choices and rights

• Ask whether we hold information about you.
• Ask us to correct or delete a concern, correction request, or petition support linked to your email.
• Withdraw petition support at any time.

To make a request, use the contact and corrections form and choose a privacy request. We will respond within a reasonable time.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the organization and its services develop. The effective date at the top will change, and significant changes will be noted on this page.