Transparency & Trust

How we source data, protect your privacy, and maintain integrity

Our Commitment

  • Official Sources: All legislative data comes directly from Congress.gov, House.gov, Senate.gov, and the FEC.
  • No Selling Data: We never sell your personal information. Period.
  • Full Control:Delete your data anytime.
  • Transparency: We openly share our data sources, methodology, and limitations.
  • Verified Login: We use Apple OAuth, Google OAuth, and SMS verification to ensure authentic users.

Data Sources & Methodology

Breakdown aggregates information from official government sources to provide you with accurate, up-to-date information about federal legislation and your representatives.

Primary Data Sources

Congress.gov API

The official source for federal legislative information. We sync data multiple times daily to keep you informed about:

  • Bills and resolutions (full text, summaries, status)
  • Congressional members (current and historical)
  • Committee assignments and activities
  • Bill actions, amendments, and related legislation
  • Cosponsors and sponsors

Update Frequency: Bills are synced every 48 hours if active; recently updated bills are checked every 6 hours.

House.gov & Senate.gov

Official House and Senate websites provide:

  • Roll call votes and vote tallies
  • Member voting records
  • Committee hearing schedules
  • Floor proceedings and legislative calendars

Update Frequency: Vote data is synced within 24 hours of each vote.

Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Campaign finance data including:

  • Candidate campaign committees and contributions
  • PAC contributions to candidates
  • Individual donor contributions (aggregated)
  • Committee expenditures and financial summaries

Update Frequency: FEC data is synced quarterly from bulk data files.

Congressional Social Media

Member social media handles are sourced from the unitedstates/congress-legislators project, a community-maintained open dataset.

Data Processing & AI

AI-Generated Summaries: When official bill summaries are not available from Congress.gov, we generate plain-language summaries using AI (OpenRouter). These summaries are clearly labeled as "AI-generated" and are based solely on the official bill text.

Important: AI summaries are supplementary and should not replace reading the official bill text. We encourage users to review the full legislation for complete accuracy.

Known Limitations

We believe in being transparent about what we can and cannot provide:

  • Data Delays: There may be a delay of up to 48 hours between when an action occurs in Congress and when it appears in Breakdown, depending on when Congress.gov updates their data.
  • Historical Data: We focus on the current Congress (119th Congress, 2025-2027). Historical data from previous Congresses is available but not actively updated.
  • State & Local Legislation: Breakdown currently covers only federal legislation. State and local bills are not included.
  • Procedural Votes: Some procedural votes (e.g., approving the journal) are not linked to specific bills and may not appear in bill pages.
  • AI Limitations: AI-generated summaries may occasionally miss nuances or context. Always refer to the official bill text for complete information.

How We Calculate Agreement Scores

When available, your "Agreement Score" with a representative will show how often your votes on bills align with their official votes. Here's how it works:

  1. Your Votes: When you vote "Support" or "Oppose" on a bill in Breakdown.
  2. Official Votes: The representative's actual vote on that bill (Yea, Nay, Present, or Not Voting).
  3. Matching: We compare your vote to theirs. If you both supported or both opposed, it's a match.
  4. Score Calculation: (Number of matching votes / Total bills you both voted on) × 100 = Agreement %

Limitations: This score only reflects bills you've voted on and does not account for the complexity of legislative strategy, amendments, or procedural votes.

Security & Guardrails

Authentication & Verification

To ensure authentic engagement and prevent abuse, we require verified authentication:

  • Apple OAuth: Sign in with Apple provides verified identity through Apple's secure authentication system.
  • Google OAuth: Sign in with Google provides verified identity through Google's secure authentication system.
  • SMS Verification: Phone number verification via SMS ensures one account per phone number.

Why verification matters: Verified accounts help prevent bot activity, spam, and coordinated manipulation campaigns that could misrepresent constituent sentiment.

Planned Guardrails

We are actively developing additional security measures:

  • Rate Limiting: Prevent abuse by limiting the number of actions per user per time period
  • Device Fingerprinting: Detect suspicious patterns across multiple accounts
  • Anomaly Detection: Automated alerts for unusual voting patterns or coordinated activity
  • District Verification: Confirm users are in the districts they claim to represent

Data Integrity Statement: Breakdown is committed to maintaining the integrity of constituent voices. We do not allow bulk account creation, vote manipulation, or any form of coordinated inauthentic behavior. Accounts found in violation will be suspended.

Your Privacy Matters

We Never Sell Your Data

Breakdown is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes. Ever.

Your votes, issue preferences, and political interests are yours alone. We use this information only to personalize your experience and help you engage with your representatives.

Your Data Rights

  • Access: Request a copy of all data we have about you
  • Export: Download your voting history, followed issues, and account information in a portable format
  • Correction: Update or correct any inaccurate information
  • Deletion: Delete your account and all associated data at any time

How to exercise your rights: Email us at hello@breakdown.us or use the data export/deletion options in your account settings (coming soon). We respond to all requests within 30 days.

For complete details, see our Privacy Policy.

Questions or Concerns?

We're committed to transparency and accountability. If you have questions about our data sources, methodology, privacy practices, or anything else, please reach out:

Email: hello@breakdown.us

Organization: Breakdown Foundation (501(c)(3) Nonprofit)

Response Time: We aim to respond to all inquiries within 48 hours.

Last Updated: January 1, 2026

This page is updated regularly to reflect changes in our data sources, methodology, and practices.