Privacy Policy

Texas Policy Polling ("TPP," "we," "our") is a research product of RFT Media. This policy describes what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices Texas voters have under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (TDPSA) and similar applicable laws.

1. Information we collect

Publicly available voter file data.We obtain Texas voter records from the L2 Political voter file, which is sourced from the Texas Secretary of State's public voter roll and enriched with public demographic and vote-history data. This includes name, address, age band, party-primary participation, and general-election vote history.

Contact information. Email addresses are obtained from (a) commercial data vendors who have appended consumer email coverage to the voter file, (b) opt-in contact lists shared with us by partner organizations, or (c) direct sign-ups from individuals who request to participate in our panel.

Survey responses. When you complete a TPP survey, we record your answers, the time and date of completion, the technical metadata of your browser session (user agent, hashed IP), and the voter record corresponding to the personalized invitation link.

2. How we use information

We use the data above to (a) field survey research, (b) compute and weight research results, (c) train and validate statistical models used in research products, and (d) deliver research products to paying clients. Survey responses are joined to voter file features for analytical purposes — this is the "voter-file matching" referenced on the methodology page.

3. What we share, and what we don't

What we publish: aggregate topline results, crosstabs, and methodology statements, on this site and through press releases.

What clients receive: aggregate research deliverables and, in some engagements, statistical model outputs (e.g. propensity scores) keyed to voter records. Sponsor and deliverable type are documented per engagement.

What we never sell or share: the individual-level survey answers a specific named respondent gave. Those records stay inside our research environment, accessed by authorized RFT Media personnel only.

4. Email choices

Every TPP email includes a one-click unsubscribe link (RFC 8058 List-Unsubscribe). Unsubscribing removes you from all future waves. If you would like to be removed from the underlying voter-file contact data entirely, email privacy@texaspolicypolling.org.

5. Your TDPSA rights

Texas residents have the right under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act to (a) confirm whether we process your personal data, (b) access the personal data we hold, (c) correct inaccuracies, (d) request deletion, (e) obtain a portable copy, and (f) opt out of targeted advertising, sale of personal data, or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@texaspolicypolling.org with the request. We respond within 45 days and may verify identity before fulfilling deletion or access requests.

6. Retention

Voter file data is refreshed each cycle. Survey responses are retained for up to 24 months after fielding closes, after which we retain only the aggregate counts and weights used in published research. Individual-level response records older than 24 months are purged on a quarterly cadence.

7. Security

We use industry-standard security controls including encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest for sensitive fields, role-based access control, and audit logging on access to individual-level response data. No system is perfectly secure; we are transparent about incidents that affect respondent data.

8. Contact

Texas Policy Polling, c/o RFT Media, Nederland, Texas. Privacy inquiries: privacy@texaspolicypolling.org.