Privacy Policy

What This App Is (and Isn’t)

Champaign County Poll Tracker is an informational companion app for Champaign County, Illinois voters, developed in partnership with the Champaign County Clerk’s Office to help make accurate polling location, election, and results information available as conveniently as possible. This app does not process voter registrations, ballots, or votes of any kind, and it is not a substitute for the Clerk’s Office’s own official systems or publications.

All election data, polling locations, and results shown in this app are provided for convenience and are reviewed alongside the Champaign County Clerk’s Office, but the Clerk’s Office’s official publications always control in the event of any discrepancy. Always confirm official information directly with the Champaign County Clerk’s Office before relying on it for voting decisions.

Optional Sign-In & Email Notifications

Creating an account is completely optional. Every feature — polling location search, wait times, maps, directions, and election results — is fully available as a guest, with no sign-in required.

If you choose to sign in, we collect a name and email address. Your name is linked to your email address as a single account record — it is not collected, stored, or used anonymously or in isolation. This information is always stored on this device and is used to: (1) personalize your experience (for example, remembering your home precinct) and let you return to your saved information later, and (2) if you opt in, send you email notifications such as polling wait-time alerts, election reminders, and app updates. If you opt in to notifications, your name and email are also stored together, linked to one another, in a secure, encrypted database (encrypted at rest, with strictly limited access) solely so those notifications can be addressed and sent to you personally — nothing else is stored there. You can turn email notifications on or off at any time from the Profile tab; turning them off, or signing out, removes your name and email from that database. You’ll never be signed up for notifications without checking the opt-in box yourself.

We do not sell your name or email to any third party, and we do not use it for advertising or cross-app/cross-site tracking. Signing up for the Champaign County Clerk’s own newsletter is a separate, distinct action handled entirely by their newsletter provider — this app does not share your account email with that newsletter automatically.

Push Notifications

Separate from the optional email notifications above, this app may send device push notifications to every device that has the app installed and notifications enabled — whether or not you are signed in. These are used only for time-sensitive, election-related announcements, such as: election results being published or updated, a polling location being marked as not in use for the current election, or a significant change to a polling location’s posted wait time.

Push notifications are addressed to your device only (an anonymous device push token), not to your name or email, and no account or sign-in is required to receive them. If you select a home precinct in the Profile tab, that precinct may be used to target certain location- or precinct-specific alerts (such as a nearby location closing) to devices in the affected area; election results notifications are sent to all devices regardless of precinct.

You can disable push notifications at any time from your device’s system notification settings for this app.

Location Data

If you use the “Closest to Me” feature, the app requests your device’s precise location (not just approximate/coarse location) solely to accurately calculate distance to polling places and identify the truly closest polling location that is currently open. Using precise rather than approximate location helps avoid recommending a farther, or already-closed, location by mistake.

Your location is processed on your device and is never stored or transmitted to any server.

Usage Data & Metrics

To help us understand how the app is used and improve it over time, we collect anonymous, aggregate usage metrics — for example, how many times the “Get Directions” button, precinct filters, or Home screen shortcuts are used. These counters are tied to your device, not to your name, email, or precise location, and do not include any personal or voter information.

Usage metrics are stored locally on your device. You can view your device’s current usage counts and clear them at any time from the “Usage & Metrics” section of the Profile tab.

If this data is ever aggregated for reporting to the Champaign County Clerk’s Office to help prioritize future improvements, it will only be shared in de-identified, aggregate form (e.g. “1,204 direction requests app-wide this month”) — never as data tied to an individual user, name, or email.

Illinois Consumer & Privacy Law Compliance

• Illinois Personal Information Protection Act (815 ILCS 530): We do not collect Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, financial account numbers, or biometric identifiers. In the unlikely event of a data security incident involving personal information collected by this app, affected users would be notified consistent with this Act.
• Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14/1 et seq.): This app does not collect, capture, or store biometric identifiers or biometric information of any kind (no fingerprints, face geometry, or voiceprints).
• Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act and general Illinois common-law right to privacy: We limit data collection to the minimum necessary to provide the optional personalization described above.
• Illinois Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140): Polling place locations, hours, and official election results referenced in this app originate from public records made available by the Champaign County Clerk’s Office. This app does not restrict or alter your independent right to request public records directly from the Clerk’s Office.

Election Law Disclosures

• Illinois Election Code (10 ILCS 5): Official polling place hours, precinct boundaries, and election dates are governed by the Illinois Election Code and set by the Champaign County Clerk. This app displays that information for convenience but the Clerk’s official publications control in the event of any discrepancy.
• Help America Vote Act (52 U.S.C. § 20901 et seq.) and National Voter Registration Act (52 U.S.C. § 20501 et seq.): This app does not perform voter registration, registration verification, or eligibility determinations. To register to vote, check your registration status, or request an accommodation under these federal laws, contact the Champaign County Clerk’s Office or visit the Illinois State Board of Elections website.
• Political sign and campaigning information (such as the “Political Signs OK” indicator) reflects site-specific rules communicated by the Clerk’s Office for the 100-foot electioneering restriction zone under 10 ILCS 5/17-29 and is provided for general awareness only — always follow posted signage at each polling place.

Children’s Privacy

This app is intended for use by voters and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

Your Choices

• You may use the app as a guest at any time without providing any personal information.
• You may sign out at any time from the Profile tab, which permanently deletes your locally stored name and email from this device, and also removes your email from the notifications database if it was there.
• You may turn email notifications on or off at any time from the Profile tab without signing out.
• You may disable device push notifications at any time from your device’s system settings for this app.
• You may view and clear your device’s locally stored usage metrics at any time from the “Usage & Metrics” section of the Profile tab.
• You may disable location permissions at any time in your device settings; the app will continue to work normally without distance sorting.

Contact

Questions about official election information should be directed to the Champaign County Clerk’s Office at elections@champaigncountyclerkil.gov or (217) 384-3724.

Questions about this app itself can be sent via the Contact Us screen in the app.