Last updated: August 20, 2026
OpinionLive (“we,” “us,” or “our”) provides a service where people can explore topics, cast votes, get matched for debate-style conversations, and participate in community discussion. This Privacy Policy describes how we handle personal information when you use our websites, apps, and related services (collectively, the “Service”).
You provide. When you create or manage an account, we may collect identifiers and contact information you choose to provide (for example, phone number or email used for authentication), public profile details (such as username, display name, bio, and date of birth), an optional demographics questionnaire described in section 3, and content you post (such as comments or messages in a chat).
Automatically from your device. We collect certain technical information needed to operate the Service, including device and browser type, approximate location derived from IP (for security and localization), timestamps, and diagnostic data associated with crashes or errors when those tools are enabled.
Usage analytics. We may use Google Analytics for Firebase / Google Analytics 4 (“GA4”) on the web client to understand how the Service is used (for example, navigation and product events). When enabled, Google processes certain usage data according to Google’s Privacy Policy. You may be able to limit some tracking via your browser settings, industry opt-outs where applicable, or your device controls.
Votes, matching, and chat. We store your votes on topics and related aggregates needed for product features (for example, tallies or trends). Matching and realtime chat flows generate records such as queue state and conversation metadata so we can connect participants and enforce safety limits. Identifiable vote and comment records do not include your demographic answers.
You may optionally complete a demographics questionnaire during onboarding if you are 18 or older, later in your profile, or from a topic page. Filling it in is not required to vote, comment, or use the rest of the Service. If you are 16 or 17, we skip this step. We use it to show group-level insights on topics (for example, how people in a country, age range, or religion voted) and to unlock those visualizations for people who have completed the form.
Questions may include gender, age range, ethnicity, optional height, optional self-described body size, religion, education, urban or rural setting, political leaning, country of residence, optional country of birth, and extra questions that depend on the country you live in. Some of this is special-category data under GDPR (including ethnicity, religion, political opinions, and health-adjacent body measures). We only process those answers after you give explicit consent in the form. You can update your answers later. Some countries omit ethnicity questions where local law is stricter (for example, France).
We minimize what we keep. Exact height and date of birth are converted into coarse ranges and then discarded from the demographics store. We do not store IP addresses on the demographics profile. The profile itself is kept in a separate collection keyed by a one-way code derived from your account id, not on your user record and not on your public votes or comments. We do not return that code to your browser.
When you vote or comment after completing the form, we copy the ranges then on file into a separate anonymous snapshot for that topic. If you later change an answer (for example, gender), past snapshots stay as they were at the time of the vote or comment. Insights are built from those snapshots and from your current profile only to highlight “people like you.” We only show topic-level group breakdowns once enough people have voted to keep answers anonymous, and we hide slices with too few people (k-anonymity) so a small group is not shown.
Topic teasers for people who have not filled in the form describe a group and an option (for example, religion, gender, country, and stance) but do not include the real percentage.
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we rely on appropriate legal bases such as performance of a contract, legitimate interests (for example, securing the Service and understanding aggregate usage), compliance with law, and consent where required. For optional demographics that are special-category data, we rely on your explicit consent (GDPR Article 9). You may withdraw that consent by contacting us; withdrawing consent does not affect processing already carried out, and anonymous topic snapshots that can no longer be tied to your account may remain as aggregate statistics.
We do not sell your personal information. We share information with service providers that help us run the Service under contractual protections. These may include cloud infrastructure and authentication providers (for example, Google Firebase and related Google Cloud services for hosting, identity, database, storage, and analytics as configured), monitoring or logging vendors used to keep our systems reliable and secure, and professional advisors where required.
Demographic answers are not published next to your username, votes, or comments. Charts and headlines on topic pages show group-level counts only after a minimum number of people fall in that group. We do not share your identifiable demographic profile with other users.
We may disclose information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is required by law, to protect the rights and safety of users or the public, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, subject to appropriate safeguards.
We retain information for as long as needed to provide the Service, comply with law, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements. Retention periods vary depending on the data type and whether you still have an account. You may request deletion of your account where the product supports it; some information may remain in backups or logs for a limited period.
If you delete your account or ask us to erase your demographics, we delete the hashed demographics profile tied to you. Anonymous vote and comment snapshots that do not contain your account id may remain as statistics that can no longer reasonably be linked back to you.
We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure; we encourage you to use a strong, unique authentication method and keep your credentials safe.
We may process and store information in the United States and other countries where we or our providers operate. Where required, we use appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers.
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or export certain personal information, or to object to or restrict certain processing. You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. To exercise rights, contact us using the information below. We may need to verify your request before responding.
You can skip the demographics form, fill it in later, or edit it from your profile. Completing it unlocks topic insights; skipping it does not block voting or commenting. You can withdraw special-category consent by contacting us as described above.
If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including knowing what personal information we collect, requesting deletion, and opting out of “sale” or “sharing” as those terms are defined by law. We do not sell personal information for money; if we ever engage in cross-context behavioral advertising that constitutes “sharing” under California law, we will provide a compliant opt-out path.
The Service is not directed to children. You must be at least 16 to create an account or participate. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. Optional demographics are only collected from people who are 18 or older. If you believe we have collected information from a child, contact us and we will take appropriate steps.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page and revise the “Last updated” date. If changes are material, we will provide additional notice as appropriate.
For privacy-related questions or requests, contact us at privacy@opinionlive.com.
See also Terms of Service.