Bending the Arc

With the midterm elections approaching, it is a good idea to make sure you are registered. Each state has a tool to do so. In Wisconsin, that site is myvote.wi.gov. The federal government also has a page that directs you to the right place, vote.gov, just select your state of residence.

Vote.gov is run by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) and does NOT ask for your personal information or track your activities. According to the site’s privacy policy, the EAC “does not collect personally-identifiable information about you when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us.”  The exception to the policy is very limited. For example, if you email the EAC requesting information, they will retain your email address so they can send a response. Further, the EAC does not track your internet activity. “No cookies used by EAC ever store any information that may be used to identify you personally,” the commission’s privacy policy says.

Voters need to be aware that there is a similar website being promoted that does not have these privacy protections. votesafe.org (this text is intentionally left un-linked) is a website run by America PAC and collects this information:

• First, middle and last name
• Date of birth
• Full home address
• Email address
• Cell phone number
• IP address and location (info used to derive each user’s city, zip code, approx. longitude and latitude, time zone, and internet provider)
• Browser, operating system, screen size and language of your device
• What website referred you to votesafe.org
• Every link you click
• Every page you look at
• Your voter registration status (derived from a voter file held by America PAC or its vendors - not the state’s actual records)
• Your district and ballot (derived from Ballotpedia)

As of August 29, 2026, the privacy policy allows America PAC to share or sell your personal information with their business partners. Read more about this warning at https://popular.info/p/the-hidden-dangers-of-musks-votesafeorg