Privacy Policy
The short version. You can read everything on changestartswithher.org, including Your feed, without an account. If you create one, we keep your email address, your screen name (never your real name), a securely hashed password and your sign-in records, and only what you choose to add: a short bio, the causes you follow (only with your separate consent), your saved feed filters, and the posts you write (“In community” posts are seen only by signed-in members). When members reply to, quote, repost or like your posts, we keep an alert for you for 90 days. Private messages between members are end-to-end encrypted: we cannot read them, and our message server deletes them 30 days after they are sent (the newest message in a conversation stays, still encrypted, until a newer one arrives or everyone leaves). We use only the cookies needed to keep you signed in, and no analytics or tracking. Our web server keeps standard logs for 30 days for security. You can download all your data or delete your account from your account page at any time. If you email us, an automated assistant using an AI model sorts your message and drafts a reply, and a person reviews every reply before it is sent. We will never sell your data. Sections marked “When it opens” describe features we are still building; we will update this policy before each one launches.
1. Who we are
Change Starts With Her is operated by Straker Media LLC, a Nevada limited liability company (“we,” “us”), which is the data controller for the personal data described here. Privacy contact: team@changestartswithher.org.
2. Scope
This policy covers personal data collected through changestartswithher.org (including changestartswithher.com, which redirects to it) and email with our team address.
It does not cover other websites we link to, including the sources we cite and the hosts of the photos we credit; they have their own policies.
3. Personal data we collect
Today
| Category | Examples | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Server log data | IP address, browser and device (user agent), the page requested, the time, the response | Automatically, when your browser asks our server for a page |
| Communication data | Your email address, name, and anything you write to us, including attachments | From you, when you email us |
| Account data | Email address, screen name, a securely hashed password, when you agreed to the terms and confirmed you are 18 or older, and your account’s role (member, moderator or admin) | From you, when you sign up |
| Sign-in records | When you signed in and out, your browser (user agent), the network you came from shortened to its first part (for example 203.0.113.0/24, never your full address), a random id for each browser you use (to warn you of sign-ins from a new one), and security events such as password changes | Automatically, when you use your account |
| Second-step data | If you turn it on: your authenticator app’s secret (encrypted), your passkeys’ public keys (we never see the private key) and recovery codes (stored only as one-way hashes) | From you, in Sign-in security |
| Profile and preferences | A short bio (shown to signed-in members), who sees your posts by default, email digest and alert choices, and your saved feed filters | From you, in your account settings |
| Your interests | The topics you follow and the places you follow them in (countries, U.S. states, metro areas, cities), only if you tick the separate consent box | From you, in your profile or the interests and regions dialog |
| Your posts | Posts, replies, quotes, reposts, the topics you pick (shown as hashtags), likes and reports, and who can see them (see Your posts below) | From you, when you post |
| Alerts | When another member replies to your post or reply, quotes, reposts or likes your post: who acted (the other member’s screen name, except for likes, which are counted and never named), which post of yours, their reply, quote or repost, when it happened, and whether you have read it or we emailed you about it; and your alert settings (see Alerts below) | Automatically, when other members act on your posts |
| Private messages | End-to-end encrypted messages between members: our message server records which account sent a message to which conversation and when, as needed to deliver it, but cannot read what it says; who is in each conversation, its settings and which message each member last read; your messaging account (linked to your account and shown with your screen name), your list of direct chats, the members you blocked, and the browsers you use it on with their public encryption keys; reports you make about messages (see Private messages below) | From you, when you use Messages |
| Bills you follow | The bills you choose to follow, only with your consent for the causes you follow (which bills you follow can show your views); deleted if you withdraw that consent. Only you see them | From you, on a bill’s page |
| Letters to your legislators | When you write to your legislators, the letter is your own: it is signed with your real name, city and ZIP code (and your street address only if you choose), and your account email is given as the reply address only if you choose. We use them only to send that letter to the legislators you pick and a copy to you, and we do not keep them: they exist only in the outgoing emails until each is sent (or finally fails), when the text, the subject, your name and your reply address are erased, and are never shown to anyone else on the site. If you tick “keep a record”, we keep which bill, whether you supported or opposed it, which legislator and how and when it was sent — never the letter’s text, your name or your address. If you do not, your account keeps nothing about the bill or who you wrote to: only that you sent a letter and to how many offices, in our security record; to stop repeat letters we keep one-way codes that cannot be turned back into the bill or the legislator, erased after a day (a week for the weekly limit of letters to one legislator) | From you, on a bill’s page |
| Your address for finding your legislators | The street address (or, if you choose “use my current location”, the map point your browser gives) you enter to find your legislators. It is sent only to the U.S. Census Bureau’s geocoder to find your districts, and is not stored by us; you do not need an account for this | From you, on the Find my legislators page or a bill’s page |
| Actions near you | When you look for events near you, the ZIP code you type or the location your browser shares (rounded to about 1 km before it leaves your device) is used only to answer that search: we do not store it, and our server logs leave it out. If you choose “Save this area”, we keep the area you chose (a state, a metro area, or a ZIP code and distance; never your browser’s location) until you change or forget it. If you save events, we keep the list of events you saved, which can show causes you support; only you can see it. Both are kept only with your consent, given when you first save. Event details come from organisers’ and city councils’ public pages (Mobilize, Women’s March, Legistar), each linked to its source; we share nothing about you with them. Calendar files are made by us and hold only the event. | From you, when you search or save |
| Report an error (report cards) | When you report a mistake on a company or food report card: what kind of mistake, the record it concerns, your message, an optional link to evidence, your email address (we send a link to confirm it before anyone on our team reads the report), an optional name, and whether you write on behalf of the company named; if you are signed in, which account sent it. Only a short public note of how we resolved it is ever published, never your email address or name | From you, when you send the form |
| Brand requests (food report cards) | The brand name or barcode you ask us to grade, and when; only you see your requests | From you, when you are signed in and send a request |
| Contributions | When you contribute at /support: the amount, the date, whether it is monthly, and Stripe’s reference numbers for the payment; if you were signed in, your account. Never your card, and not your name or email address: Stripe holds those, under its own privacy policy, to process the payment and send your receipt | From you and from Stripe, when you contribute |
| Shop orders | When you buy at /shop: what you ordered, the amounts, the date, Stripe’s reference numbers, the order’s status and tracking; your name and shipping address (collected by Stripe at checkout); if you were signed in, your account. Never your card, and not your email address or phone number: Stripe holds those to process the payment and send your receipt | From you and from Stripe, when you order |
| Email digests | If you choose a daily or weekly digest: when we last sent it and how many items it carried (the digest itself is built from public items and is not kept) | Created when we send your digest |
What we do not collect. No analytics, advertising tags, social-media pixels, third-party scripts or third-party fonts are used on this site, and the only cookies are the sign-in cookies in section 10. Our bot check runs on our own server, not a third party’s. Moderators and admins never see members’ email addresses. The photos are stored on our own server, so viewing them does not contact the photographers’ sites.
Sensitive data. The topics you follow and what you post can reveal your political opinions and other sensitive information. We treat it as sensitive: collected only with your consent, used only to run the features you use, never sold, never shared for advertising, and deletable by you at any time.
How we ask. Choosing causes is optional. Before you save any, you see a separate consent box, not pre-ticked and not bundled with accepting our Terms, explaining what we keep and why. Unticking it deletes the causes you follow, and any saved feed filters that name causes or search words. We will not guess your political views from your activity, and we will honor browser privacy signals such as Global Privacy Control. Withdrawing consent deletes your topic choices.
Your posts
What a post holds. When you post, reply, quote or repost, we keep your words, the links you include, the topics you pick (shown as hashtags), the time, and who can see it. Posts show your screen name, never your email address or a real name. If you edit a post (you can for 30 minutes after posting), we keep the earlier wording with it so our moderators can review reports fairly; it is deleted with the post. We also keep your likes, the reports you make, and the members you block or mute; only you see those lists, and the person you block, mute or report is not told. One block covers both posts and private messages: unblocking undoes both.
Who sees a post. You choose for each post: “In community” (signed-in members only) or “All” (anyone, including search engines). New members start at “In community”, and you can change the default in your profile. Posts in community are never shown to visitors who are not signed in, never sent to search engines and never placed on public pages. “All” posts can appear, with your screen name, in the live feed on our home page. A reply, quote or repost is never more public than the post it answers when it is written; quotes others made earlier keep their own words, without your post. You can move a post, and the replies below it, to “In community” at any time, and it then stays there; copies others already made, such as screenshots or search engine copies, cannot be recalled. Posts can show your political opinions, so please choose with care.
Your control. You can delete any of your posts at any time; it is gone at once, and replies others wrote to it stay, shown as replying to a deleted post. If a post you delete had been reported, our moderators keep a copy of it and the reports for 90 days, then erase them. “Your data” in your account includes all your posts with their earlier wording, your likes, your reports, the members you blocked or muted, and your alerts and alert settings. Deleting your account deletes all of them, except that reports you made about other members’ posts are kept for our moderators without your name or note, and copies of your reported posts are kept for 90 days as above. If our moderators hide a post, only you and our moderators still see it, and we email you why and how to appeal.
Alerts
What an alert holds. When another member replies to your post or to your reply, quotes, reposts or likes your post, we make an alert for you, shown on your Alerts page: the other member’s screen name, your post, and their reply, quote or repost. Likes are never named: you see how many members liked a post, never who; only the member who liked keeps that in her own list. You get no alerts from members you blocked, who blocked you or whom you muted, nor about posts our moderators hid, and none while your own account is suspended or being deleted. In your profile you choose which kinds of alert you see in the app and which we email.
Alert emails. If alert emails are on (you can switch them off, or choose the kinds, in your profile), we send at most one every 15 minutes, summarising what is new. An alert email never quotes what anyone wrote: it gives counts and links to the posts on this site. It names the other member only when their reply, quote or repost is “All” (public anyway); for an “In community” one it says “A member”, and likes are only counted. Like every account email, an alert email waits in our outbox until it is sent, and its text is erased once it is sent.
How long. Alerts are deleted 90 days after they are made, read or not, and sooner when your account or the other member’s is deleted, or either post is. Deleted alerts are gone from our backups within 6 months. “Your data” in your account includes your alerts and your alert settings.
Private messages
End-to-end encrypted. Messages between members are end-to-end encrypted: they are encrypted on your device and only the people in the conversation can read them — not us, not our servers. They pass through a message server we run ourselves, on the same server as this site; it does not connect to any other server. Messages are for signed-in members only, and other members find you only by your exact screen name.
Nothing readable in a conversation. The message server stores only encrypted messages and the settings a private conversation needs. It refuses anything else: no readable messages, reactions, stickers, room names, topics or reasons for deleting a message. A group chat has no stored title; it is shown by its members’ names. Your name there is your screen name, the same in every conversation.
What the server records, and for how long.
- Messages and their delivery records (which account sent a message to which conversation, and when): deleted 30 days after they are sent, or sooner if everyone leaves the conversation. The newest message in a conversation stays, still encrypted, until a newer one arrives or everyone leaves.
- Who is in each conversation and its settings (invitation only, encrypted, who may invite): kept while the conversation exists, and deleted within a day after everyone has left it.
- Read receipts: which message each member last read in a conversation. Only the latest is kept, replaced as you read on, and it is deleted with the conversation.
- Your settings there: your list of direct chats, the members you blocked, the public encryption keys of the browsers you use, and the encrypted backup of your message keys. Kept until your account is permanently deleted, then deleted.
No IP address. Neither the message server nor our web server logs the IP address of requests to the message server. Our web server limits how often one address may call it, but only in memory, without writing it down. The Messages page itself (/messages) is a page of this site, so loading it appears in our normal 30-day server log like any other page.
Sign-ins. Each browser’s sign-in to the message server ends after 30 days at most. If your account is suspended or you ask us to delete it, your messaging is locked and every browser is signed out; we keep retrying until the message server has done it.
Not in backups. Messages, the message server’s database and its records are never copied into our backups. The server’s keys (not messages) are in our backups, so we can restore the server.
Blocking. One block covers both posts and messages. When you block a member, you no longer see her messages or invitations, and neither of you can invite the other. She is not told. Unblocking undoes both.
Your keys. Your recovery key never leaves your devices, so we cannot recover your messages for you. The server keeps an encrypted backup of your message keys that only your recovery key can open, so you can read your conversations on a new device; we cannot open it.
Reports. If you report a message, we receive only what you choose to send us: your note and, if you choose, a copy of the message, along with our server’s record of who sent it and when. We keep a report for one year after our moderators close it, then delete it. A report that is never reviewed is deleted one year after you made it, so no report is kept for ever. The member you report is not told who reported her.
When your account is deleted. When your account is permanently deleted, your messaging account is closed, what you sent is marked for erasure, and your settings there (direct chats, blocked members, device keys and the key backup) are deleted. Reports you made about messages are kept for our moderators, without your name or note, until the times above.
Our social media accounts
Change Starts With Her has accounts on Bluesky (@changestartswithher.org) and Mastodon (@changestartswithher@mastodon.social). They post the cited news items you see in Your feed, news about this site and calls to action.
When you mention or reply to us there, we keep a copy of that public post (your handle, its text and its link) so a person on our team can read it and decide whether to answer. Every answer is written or approved by a person; nothing is answered automatically. We delete the copy of your post 30 days after we decide.
When you send us a direct message there, we send one fixed note asking you to write to team@changestartswithher.org. We do not read, keep or answer direct messages on these platforms. To send the note only once, we keep a one-way fingerprint of the conversation’s number, which cannot be turned back into your handle or your message.
These platforms have their own privacy policies, which apply to what you post there.
4. How we collect it
- Directly from you when you email us, sign up, post, send or report a message, or change your settings.
- Automatically through our web server’s logs when you visit.
We do not buy personal data or collect it from data brokers. The news, legislation, event and report-card information we publish is about public matters and comes from cited public sources, not from tracking you.
5. Why we use it, and our legal bases
| Purpose | Data used | Legal basis (GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Run the site and keep it secure | Server log data | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Read, sort and answer your messages | Communication data | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Keep accounts safe: sign-in limits, new-sign-in warnings, a check that your new password has not appeared in a known data breach, and a record of security events | Account data, sign-in records | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Comply with the law and protect our users | Any data, as needed | Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)); legitimate interests |
| Provide your account, Your feed, posting, alerts and private messages | Account, sign-in records, second-step data, profile and preferences, interests, posts, alerts, messaging account and message delivery records, message reports | Performance of our terms with you (Art. 6(1)(b)); for sensitive data, your explicit consent (Art. 9(2)(a)) |
| Find your legislators, follow bills, and send the letters you write to your legislators | The address or location you enter (not kept), your name, city, ZIP and, if you choose, street address and reply email (not kept), bills you follow, letter records you choose to keep | Performance of our terms with you (Art. 6(1)(b)); followed bills and letter records can reveal political opinions and are kept only with your explicit choice (Art. 9(2)(a)) |
| Take and record your contributions, and publish what we receive and spend (totals only, never who gave) | Contribution records | Performing our service to you (Art. 6(1)(b)); legal obligation for financial records (Art. 6(1)(c)) |
| Answer public mentions and replies on our social accounts, and send the fixed note for direct messages | Public posts that mention or reply to us (handle, text, link); a one-way fingerprint of a direct-message conversation | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): answering people who contact us publicly, and telling those who write privately where we answer |
| Send the daily or weekly email digest you choose | Email address, interests, preferences | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)); you can switch digests off at any time |
Our email assistant (AI)
Every message sent to our team address is processed by an automated assistant. It sends the text of your message to an AI model provider (inference.net, which runs openly published “open-weight” models) to decide what kind of message it is and to draft a reply based only on the public pages of this site. inference.net’s own privacy policy states that it does not use customer data to train AI models.
A person reviews and approves every reply before it is sent. The assistant never sends email on its own. Messages it thinks are spam are filed in a junk folder, not deleted, and are checked by a person.
The provider receives only your message text to return a result to us; we do not send it your account data or anything else. We do not use your messages for advertising.
If you do not want your message processed this way, you can ask us to delete our copy and the assistant’s records of it by writing to team@changestartswithher.org.
7. International transfers
Our server is in the United States. If you visit or write from elsewhere, your data is transferred to and processed in the United States, which may not offer the same protection as your home country. Where the law requires safeguards for such transfers (for example from the EEA, UK or Switzerland), we use a lawful transfer mechanism. You may ask us for details.
8. How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Server log data | 30 days, then deleted automatically | Security and fixing problems |
| Actions near you: a search’s ZIP code or location | Not kept: used only to answer the search | Finding events near you |
| Actions near you: your saved area and saved events | Until you change them, press “Delete all” on My events, or delete your account; they are in “Download my data”; deleted copies leave backups within 6 months | Showing you your events |
| Messages to our team address and the assistant’s records of them | As long as needed to handle your message and any follow-up, then deleted; sooner if you ask | Answering you |
| Account data, profile, preferences, interests, second-step data | Until you delete them or your account. When you delete your account it is held for 30 days so you can change your mind (sign in to keep it), then deleted permanently; deleted data is gone from our backups within 6 months | Providing the service |
| Sign-in records and security events | While your account exists; when it is deleted, the records keep only what happened and when, not who or where | Keeping accounts safe; showing you your own history |
| Account emails we send you | The message text is erased as soon as it is sent; the address and subject are deleted 7 days later | Delivering and troubleshooting email |
| Accounts never confirmed | Deleted 7 days after sign-up if the email address is not confirmed | Not keeping data we do not need |
| Your posts, likes, reports, blocks and mutes (a block covers messages too) | Until you delete them or your account (a deleted post is gone from the site at once); a report you made about someone else’s post is kept for our moderators without your name or note after your account is deleted; if a post you delete had been reported (also when it is deleted with your account), our moderators keep a copy of it and the reports for 90 days, then erase them; deleted copies leave backups within 6 months | Providing the service; keeping the community safe |
| Alerts (who replied to, quoted, reposted or liked your posts) and when we last emailed you about them | 90 days after each alert is made, then deleted automatically, read or not; sooner when your account or the other member’s is deleted, or either post is. Your alert settings stay with your profile. Deleted alerts are gone from our backups within 6 months | Providing the service |
| Private messages and their delivery records (on our message server) | 30 days after each message is sent, then deleted automatically; sooner if everyone leaves the conversation. The newest message in a conversation stays, still encrypted, until a newer one arrives or everyone leaves. Never copied into our backups | Delivering messages |
| Who is in each conversation, its settings, and read receipts (only the latest one per member) | While the conversation exists; deleted within a day after everyone has left. Never copied into our backups | Delivering messages |
| Your messaging account, your list of direct chats, the members you blocked, your browsers’ public encryption keys and the encrypted backup of your message keys | Until your account is permanently deleted; then the messaging account is closed, these are deleted, and what you sent is marked for erasure. Never copied into our backups | Providing messages |
| Reports about messages | One year after our moderators close a report, then deleted with any copy it holds; a report never reviewed is deleted one year after it was made; after your account is deleted, reports you made stay, without your name or note, until then; deleted reports leave backups within 6 months | Keeping the community safe |
| The address or location you enter to find your legislators | Not stored: used for the one lookup and then discarded | Finding your districts |
| Your letters to legislators: the text, subject, your name, your address and your reply address | Not stored by us: they are in the outgoing emails only until each is sent (or finally fails), then erased (your copy is in your own mailbox); the one-way codes against repeat letters are erased after a day, or a week for the weekly limit | Delivering your letter |
| Bills you follow and the letter records you choose to keep | Until you delete them or your account (followed bills also when you withdraw your consent for causes); deleted data is gone from our backups within 6 months | Providing the service |
| Contribution records | As long as tax and accounting law requires (at least 7 years); if you delete your account they are kept without it | Legal obligations for financial records and transparency reporting |
| Shop orders | The order (what, when, amounts, Stripe’s references) is kept as a sales record for as long as tax and accounting rules require, also after you delete your account (without your account). Your name and shipping address are erased 90 days after the order is delivered, canceled or fully refunded, and at the latest 180 days after you paid; when you delete your account they are erased at once from orders that no longer need shipping. Deleted data is gone from our backups within 6 months. | Making, shipping and fixing your order; tax and accounting |
| Copies of public posts that mention or reply to our social accounts | 30 days after we decide on an answer | Deciding whether and how to answer |
| The fingerprint of a direct-message conversation that got our fixed note | As long as the account exists | So the note is never sent twice |
| Report an error: reports never confirmed by email | Deleted 7 days after they are sent | Not keeping data we do not need |
| Report an error: confirmed reports | The report is kept while the card exists; your email address and name are erased 90 days after we close it. The public note of how it was resolved stays on the card’s change log | Answering you, and keeping the report cards honest and correctable |
| Brand requests and your digest record | A brand request until you withdraw it or delete your account; the record of your last digest until you delete your account | Doing what you asked |
9. Security
We protect personal data with technical and organizational measures, including:
- Encryption in transit. The site is served only over HTTPS with current TLS; plain HTTP redirects to HTTPS.
- Locked-down server. A firewall allows only web traffic from the internet; administrative access is by key only, over a private network, never by password.
- Updates. Security updates are applied automatically, and the server is checked against a hardening baseline.
- Least privilege. Only the people and systems that need data to do their job can reach it.
- Incident response. If a breach affects your personal data, we will notify you and the authorities within the time the law requires (for example 72 hours to a regulator under the GDPR).
- Private messages are end-to-end encrypted, on a message server we run ourselves that talks to no other server and cannot reach the internet, so we cannot read their contents.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Activists can face real risks: please think about what you share, and see the safety tips in our Community Guidelines.
11. Your rights
| Right | What it means | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you | Everywhere we can (GDPR Art. 15, UK GDPR, US state laws, APPI, PDPA, PDPO, Privacy Act, PIPA) |
| Correction | Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data | EU/UK (Art. 16), US states with privacy laws, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea |
| Deletion | Ask us to delete your data, unless the law requires us to keep it | EU/UK (Art. 17), US states with privacy laws (including California), South Korea |
| Restriction | Ask us to pause processing in certain circumstances | EU/UK (Art. 18) |
| Portability | Receive data you gave us in a structured, machine-readable format | EU/UK (Art. 20), US states with privacy laws |
| Objection | Object to processing based on our legitimate interests | EU/UK (Art. 21) |
| Withdraw consent | Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting earlier lawful processing | Everywhere consent is the basis |
| Non-discrimination | We will not treat you differently for using your rights | California and other US states |
| Opt out of sale or sharing | Tell us not to sell or share your data for targeted advertising. We do neither. | California and other US states |
| Complain to a regulator | Lodge a complaint with your data protection authority | EU/UK (Art. 77) and the authorities listed in the region-specific section |
In your account. Signed in, you can see and correct your profile, change or withdraw your consent for the causes you follow, download all your data as a machine-readable file (including your alerts and alert settings; likes in it are never named; your contributions made while signed in), and delete your account (Your account → Your data). You can also do all of this by email.
How to use your rights. Email team@changestartswithher.org. We will confirm your request is genuine before acting on it, using only what we need to do that, and we will answer within the time the law where you live requires (for example 30 days under the GDPR, 45 days under California law). If a request is complex and we need more time, we will tell you.
Authorized agents. You may ask someone to make a request for you. We will ask for written proof that you authorized them and may verify both of your identities.
12. Children
This site is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. Accounts are for people 18 and older only. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
13. Region-specific information
European Economic Area — GDPR
Controller. Straker Media LLC, contact team@changestartswithher.org.
Data Protection Officer. We are not required to appoint one under Article 37 GDPR. Privacy questions go to the contact address above.
Legal bases. We rely on the legal bases listed in the purposes section. Where we rely on legitimate interests, you may object.
Automated decisions. We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects (Article 22 GDPR).
Complaints. You may complain to the supervisory authority where you live or work, or where the issue occurred. The list is at edpb.europa.eu.
Sensitive data. Topic choices on Change Starts With Her can reveal political opinions, which the GDPR and several US state laws treat as sensitive. Where those laws require it, we ask for your explicit consent before collecting them, and you can withdraw it at any time by removing the topics or your account.
United Kingdom — UK GDPR
You may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk. Processing is also subject to the UK Data Protection Act 2018, including its exemptions.
United States — California and other states
No sale, no sharing for advertising. We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we have not done so in the past 12 months.
Your rights. Residents of California and of other states with comprehensive privacy laws (including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Nevada) have the rights described above, to the extent those laws apply to us. We will not discriminate against you for using them.
Global Privacy Control. Because we do not sell or share personal information, there is nothing for a GPC or Do Not Track signal to switch off; we honor both by default.
“Shine the Light” (California Civil Code § 1798.83). We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes.
Asia-Pacific
Japan (APPI), Singapore (PDPA), Hong Kong SAR (PDPO), Australia (Privacy Act 1988) and South Korea (PIPA). If these laws apply to your data, you may ask to access, correct or delete it, or to stop its use, and you may complain to the regulator: Japan’s Personal Information Protection Commission, Singapore’s PDPC, Hong Kong’s Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, the Australian OAIC or Korea’s PIPC. Your data is processed in the United States (see international transfers); we use it only for the purposes in this policy and will notify regulators and affected people of data breaches where those laws require it.
14. Changes to this policy
We will update this policy before each new feature launches, post the new version here with a new “last updated” date, and say so at the top of the page. Version 2.3 (October 27, 2026): our social media accounts on Bluesky and Mastodon: what we keep when you mention or reply to us there (a copy of the public post, deleted 30 days after we decide), the one fixed note for direct messages (never read or kept; a one-way fingerprint so it is sent once), and that Bluesky and mastodon.social receive only what we post. Version 2.2 (October 27, 2026): wording brought up to date: shop orders are covered in section 3 (the “When it opens” list is gone), and interests are chosen in your profile or the interests and regions dialog. Version 2.1 (October 27, 2026): your interests can now be countries, U.S. states, metro areas and cities, chosen in the interests and regions dialog (section 3, “Your interests”). Version 2.0 (October 27, 2026): the shop: what we keep from an order (what you ordered, amounts, Stripe’s reference numbers, status and tracking, and your name and shipping address; never your card, email or phone), Printify and its print partner make and ship it with only your name, address and order, the address is erased 90 days after delivery, cancellation or a full refund (180 days after payment at the latest, at once when you delete your account if nothing is still to ship), and your orders are in your data download. Version 1.9 (October 26, 2026): contributions are open: what we keep from a contribution (amount, date, whether it is monthly, Stripe’s reference numbers and, if you were signed in, your account; never your card, name or email address), Stripe as our payment processor, contribution records kept as long as tax and accounting law requires (at least 7 years, without your account if you delete it), and your contributions in your data download. Version 1.8 (October 24, 2026): company and food report cards with “Report an error” (what we keep from a report, and for how long), brand requests, and daily or weekly email digests, now live. Version 1.1 (October 22, 2026): accounts, sign-in cookies, Your feed and saved filters, data download and account deletion are now open; the backup period (6 months) is published. Version 1.2 (October 22, 2026): posting is open: what a post holds, who sees it, and how long it is kept. Version 1.3 (October 22, 2026): private messages are open: they are end-to-end encrypted on our own message server; messages and their delivery records are deleted 30 days after they are sent and are not in our backups; reports about messages are kept one year after they are closed. Version 1.4 (October 22, 2026): bills and letters to your legislators are open: following bills (with your consent for causes), finding your legislators (your address goes only to the U.S. Census Bureau and is not stored), and letters signed with your real name and city that we send but do not keep. Version 1.5 (October 22, 2026): after a security review of private messages, this policy now says exactly what our message server keeps besides messages and for how long (who is in each conversation and its settings, until a day after everyone leaves; read receipts; your direct-chat and block lists, device keys and key backup, until your account is deleted); the server stores nothing readable, so a group chat has no title and is shown by its members’ names; no IP address is logged for message-server requests, by it or by our web server; each browser’s sign-in to messaging ends after 30 days at most; the newest message in a conversation stays, still encrypted, until a newer one arrives or everyone leaves; a report about messages that is never reviewed is deleted one year after it was made; one block covers posts and messages; the message server’s keys (not messages) are in our backups; and the message server cannot reach the internet. Version 1.6 (October 22, 2026): alerts are open: what an alert holds (the other member’s screen name, except likes, which are counted and never named; your post; their reply, quote or repost); alert emails (at most one every 15 minutes, never any post text, “In community” members unnamed, a switch for each kind, held in our outbox until sent); alerts are kept 90 days, sooner with either account or post, and leave backups within 6 months; your data download includes alerts and alert settings; and “All” posts can appear with your screen name in the live feed on our home page. Version 1.7 (October 22, 2026): actions near you are open: a search’s ZIP code or location is used only for that search and not stored or logged; a saved area and saved events are kept, with your consent, until you change or delete them; events link to their organisers’ and councils’ public pages. Once you have an account, we will also tell you by email about significant changes, and ask for consent where the law requires it.
15. Contact us
Change Starts With Her, operated by Straker Media LLC · team@changestartswithher.org
We aim to reply to every privacy question within 10 business days.