Privacy Policy

How Masbate Voices handles your data

Last updated: June 23, 2026

Masbate Voices is a community-led civic platform where residents of the Province of Masbate can record, confirm, and follow local problems. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why, how we use it, and the rights you have over it. It is written to align with the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173).

Masbate Voices is an independent, citizen-led project — not a government office, company, or political group. Questions or requests about your data can be sent to abet.llacer@bicol-u.edu.ph.

1. Who is responsible for your data

This platform is operated by an individual resident (the "operator") who acts as the data controller. For any privacy concern, correction, or deletion request, contact abet.llacer@bicol-u.edu.ph.

2. What we collect

  • Google account details — when you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address, Google account ID, and profile photo. We use Google Sign-In only to verify that you are a real person; we never see or store your Google password.
  • Content you submit — the reports you post (title, description, category, area/location, and an optional photo), your comments, and your "I experience this too" confirmations.
  • Technical data — a single session cookie that keeps you logged in. Standard web-server logs may briefly record technical details such as IP address for security and abuse prevention. A small theme preference (light/dark) is stored in your browser only.
  • Visit analytics — to monitor traffic, we record which pages are viewed, the referring website, and an anonymous daily hash derived from your connection (used only to count unique visitors). We do not store your raw IP address in these analytics, and they are visible only to the site owner.

3. What is public

Masbate Voices is a public wall. Please be aware that:

  • Reports and comments are visible to everyone, including people who are not signed in.
  • If you post a report as "Anonymous Resident," your name is hidden on that report — but the content itself remains public.
  • When you tap "I experience this too," your name is shown to others as someone who confirmed that report. If you prefer not to be listed, do not confirm.
  • Your email address and Google ID are never shown publicly — they are visible only to the operator/administrator.

4. Why we use your data

  • To sign you in and attribute your posts (or keep them anonymous when you choose).
  • To display the public wall, filters, search, and aggregate analytics (counts and trends only — never your personal details).
  • To prevent spam and abuse (rate limits, duplicate checks) and to moderate harmful content.

Our legal basis is your consent, given when you sign in and post, and our legitimate interest in keeping the platform safe and useful.

5. Sharing

We do not sell or rent your personal data. Google processes your sign-in under its own privacy policy. If you choose to share a report to Facebook, that action is initiated by you and handled by Facebook. We may disclose information if required by a lawful order from a competent authority.

6. How long we keep it

Reports, comments, and confirmations remain on the public record until you delete them or request removal, so that concerns stay visible until addressed. Account details are kept while your account exists. You can delete your own reports and comments at any time, or ask us to remove your account and associated content.

7. Your rights

Under the Data Privacy Act, you have the right to be informed, to access your data, to correct it, to object to processing, to have it deleted or blocked, and to data portability. You can:

  • Delete your own reports and comments directly from the site.
  • Email abet.llacer@bicol-u.edu.ph to access, correct, or delete your account and data. We aim to respond within a reasonable time.

8. Security

We use industry-standard measures: encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure session cookies, protection against common web attacks, and re-encoding of uploaded images to strip hidden content. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your data.

9. Children

This platform is intended for users who are old enough to give valid consent. If you believe a minor has provided personal data without appropriate consent, please contact us so we can remove it.

10. Changes

We may update this policy as the platform evolves. Significant changes will be reflected by the "last updated" date above. Continued use after changes means you accept the updated policy.

11. Contact

For any question or request regarding your personal data, email abet.llacer@bicol-u.edu.ph.

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