Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information Protecting American Consumers Together ("PACT," "we," "us") collects on this microsite, how we use it, and the choices you have. Use of submitted stories is governed by our Submission Terms.

1. Information you give us

When you complete the intake form, you give us:

• Your first and last name.
• Your email address.
• Your ZIP code.
• Optionally, your phone number.
• The story you write and any case-factor details you check or describe.
• An affirmative consent record (whether you checked the consent box, the version of the Submission Terms in effect, and the timestamp).

2. Information collected automatically

When your browser submits the form, our servers also record:

• The user-agent string of your browser (for spam filtering and accessibility metrics).
• Basic timing information used to detect automated submissions.

We do not run third-party advertising trackers on this microsite. We do not sell or rent any of the information above to data brokers.

3. How we use what you submit

We use the information you submit to:

• Read, review, and analyze your story internally.
• Conduct PACT research — including aggregating multiple submissions into anonymized statistics and themes — and publish that research.
• Quote, paraphrase, or otherwise share your story publicly, including with your name and identifying details, as authorized by the consent you give at submission and described in the Submission Terms.
• Share your story with journalists, lawmakers, their staff, regulators, researchers, and PACT coalition partners working on the same consumer-protection issues.
• Contact you using the email address (and, if you provided one, phone number) to follow up on your submission, ask clarifying questions, or confirm details before quoting you.

4. How we share information

We share information in these ways and no others:

• With sub-processors that host the site and the database where submissions are stored, under contracts that limit them to providing those services.
• With journalists, lawmakers, regulators, and PACT coalition partners, as described in the Submission Terms.
• If legally required — for example, in response to a valid subpoena or court order. We will push back where appropriate and notify you when we are not legally prohibited from doing so.

We do not sell your personal information.

5. How long we keep your information

We keep submissions for as long as PACT continues consumer-protection work in this area. If you withdraw your story (see Section 7), we will mark the submission as withdrawn and stop using it for new public materials, but we may retain an internal archived copy for compliance and audit purposes.

6. Security

We use industry-standard safeguards — including encrypted transport (HTTPS), restricted database access, and row-level security policies — to protect submissions. No system is perfectly secure; we cannot guarantee absolute confidentiality.

7. Your choices and rights

You can:

• Withdraw your story. Email info@protectingamericanconsumers.org with the subject line "Withdraw my submission." See Section 6 of the Submission Terms for what withdrawal means in practice.
• Request a copy of the personal information PACT holds about you, or ask us to correct inaccuracies.
• Request deletion of your contact information (email/phone) while keeping the story itself in our research, or vice versa.

Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have specific statutory rights, including the right to know, correct, and delete personal information and to appeal a denial of those requests. To exercise any of these rights, email the address above and identify the right you are invoking.

8. Children

This site is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has submitted a story, email us and we will remove it.

9. International users

PACT operates in the United States. Information you submit will be processed and stored in the United States and may be subject to U.S. law.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy. The consent-version note at the top of the page changes when we do. Older submissions remain governed by the version of the Submission Terms in effect when they were submitted.

11. Contact

Privacy questions, data requests, withdrawal requests: info@protectingamericanconsumers.org.