ActBlue Privacy Policy

Effective August 19, 2024

Previous Version

At ActBlue, we strongly believe that privacy is a fundamental right and we’ve written this Privacy Policy to make it easy to understand how our organization—including its affiliated entities—collects, uses, and shares personal information in furtherance of our mission.  

Information We Collect

The information we collect about you depends on how you use our services.  When you visit our website, create an ActBlue account, save your payment information, make a contribution, contact us, or otherwise interact with ActBlue and our services, we may collect information that identifies you, relates to you, or could reasonably be linked to you, including:

  • Contact Information. Your name, email address, phone number, and other information that we and the recipient of your contribution may need for compliance purposes, including your address, occupation, or information about your employer, if applicable.
  • Account Information. Your ActBlue account credentials and related account details.
  • Payment Information.  Your billing address and method of payment, such as credit, debit, or other payment account information.
  • Transaction Information. Information related to your contributions facilitated by ActBlue.
  • Integrity Information.  Data that we use to help identify and prevent fraud and other violations of our terms and policies, or to defend against security threats and other malicious or deceptive activities.
  • Usage Information.  Data about your use of ActBlue, such as your activity on our website, content you create or interact with, dates and times of access, and performance and other diagnostic data.  See “Cookies and Other Tracking Technologies” below for more information about how we collect and use some of this information.
  • Device Information.  Data from and about the devices you use, such as your browser type and language, operating system, IP address, and unique device or advertising identifiers.
  • Location Information.  Information that relates to or could reveal your location, such as an address you provided, or a coarse location based on your IP address. Our services do not collect precise geolocation data, such as a GPS-based location.
  • Legal Information.  Depending on your specific use of ActBlue for fundraising and the laws of your jurisdiction, we may ask for your federal tax ID or other government-issued documents.
  • Other Information You Provide.  Other information you provide through your interactions with ActBlue, including your communications with ActBlue and our social media accounts.

ActBlue may also receive information about you from other lawful sources, such as other ActBlue users, our affiliates, service providers, and partners including those that assist us in legal compliance, security and fraud prevention, and enforcing our Terms of Service and Account Use Policy.

Why We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

  • Providing Our Services.  ActBlue uses information that is necessary to develop, operate, deliver, maintain, improve upon, and protect our services. This includes processing contributions, troubleshooting, auditing, testing, conducting internal research, analyzing data, and providing technical support.
  • Protecting You, Others, and ActBlue.  To protect our users, our employees, other individuals, and our services, we use information to secure and strengthen the integrity of our service and to establish, exercise, and defend our legal rights. This includes preventing, detecting, and responding to security and safety threats, fraud, conduct that may violate our Terms of Service or policies, or illegal activities.
  • Personalizing Your Experience.  Certain ActBlue features may use information, such as your past contributions, to provide you with more relevant choices, experiences, or communications.  
  • Communicating With You.  We use information, like your email address, to communicate with you directly, including when you contact us.  For example, we may reach out to you if we detect suspicious activity involving your ActBlue account, or to provide important notices or information about our services, terms, and policies. We may also contact you to provide information, tips, and offers about ActBlue services, and you can opt-out of receiving those non-transactional messages.
  • Complying with the Law.  We use information to comply with applicable laws, such as satisfying a regulatory reporting obligation or answering a governmental request.

When We Share Your Information

We may share your information with ActBlue-affiliated entities, service providers who act on our behalf, entities that we’ve partnered with, or others at your direction.

  • Service Providers. ActBlue shares information with vendors and other firms who perform services on our behalf, including payment processors, cloud computing services, analytics providers, legal counsel, and tax and compliance auditors.
  • Partners.  At times, ActBlue may partner with others to provide you with specific services or features, such as integrating a third party payment service.
  • To the Recipient of Your Contribution or Otherwise At Your Direction.  ActBlue may share information with others when you have clearly intended for us to do so, or at your direction, or with your consent.  For example, when you make a contribution using ActBlue, the recipient will receive a report about your contribution.
  • When Required.  We may also disclose your information for purposes of legal compliance or to respond to legal process, including government requests.  For example, we are required to report information about each federal contribution made using our platform to the Federal Election Commission.
  • Other Circumstances.  We may disclose your information in cases where we have a lawful basis to do so; if we determine in our good faith it is reasonably necessary to enforce our terms and policies or other contracts; to protect our users, employees, others, and our services; to establish, exercise, and defend our legal rights; or in the event of a reorganization, merger, or sale.

ActBlue does not sell your contact information to third parties, and we don’t send solicitations, such as text messages or emails, on behalf of the individuals and organizations that use ActBlue for fundraising, including political committees and campaigns. If you are receiving unwanted solicitations from organizations or campaigns, or have concerns about their data practices, we encourage you to contact them directly.

Privacy Questions & Data Requests

ActBlue takes your privacy questions seriously.  If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or ActBlue’s data practices, or if you wish to exercise your data rights under applicable laws, you can contact us.

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have certain rights with respect to your information, including the ability to request: (i) access to and/or a copy of certain personal information we hold about you; (ii) correction of inaccurate information we have about you; and (iii) deletion of certain personal information we have collected from you.  Please note that your rights and our responses may vary based on your state or country of residency. For example, you may be located in a jurisdiction where we are not obligated or unable to fulfill a specific request.

We will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity when you make a request.  Certain information may be exempt from such requests under applicable law such as information we retain for legal compliance and to secure our services.  We may need certain information in order to provide our services to you; accordingly, if you ask us to delete it, you may no longer be able to use our services.

How We Protect Your Information

Securing the ActBlue platform is a vital part of respecting your privacy and we take appropriate steps to secure your information, including administrative and technical safeguards, taking into account the nature of the information and the processing, and the threats posed.  We use insights gained from providing our services to help detect and respond to security threats, including unauthorized access, disclosure, or destruction of data. For more information, visit our Security page.

We also offer security features to help you protect your account, including Two-Factor Authentication and other tools to help prevent unauthorized access. If you believe your account or other information we hold may be compromised, please contact us immediately.

Cookies and Other Technologies

ActBlue’s websites and services may use “cookies” or other technologies.  Some of these tools are necessary to provide a specific service or feature that you accessed or requested or to store your preferences, such as authenticating your account, verifying your contribution, or remembering your preferred settings.  We may also use these technologies to understand how people interact with our brand and services and to advertise our services to you, including to understand the effectiveness of our communications or advertisements.  You can usually influence or decline certain of these technologies through your web browser, but removing or disabling cookies and other technologies could affect the availability and functionality of our services. To disable Google analytics and advertising cookies, you can also use their individual analytics opt-out mechanism and change Google advertising settings.  You can also make choices about interest-based ads at Digital Advertising Alliance.

You must take this action on each device or browser where you want your choices to apply.

Minors

Our services are not intended for—and we don’t direct them to—minors under the age of 18 or anyone under the age of majority under applicable law.  If we become aware that a minor is using our platform, we will suspend their use of our services and delete their account in accordance with our Terms of Service.

Updates to the Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time.  When we do, we will let you know by revising the date at the top of the Privacy Policy.  In some cases, we may add an additional early notice on our website or send you an email if you provided us with that information.