Title: Data Clean-up Policy
Original CoS Document (slug): data-clean-up-policy
Login Required to view? No
Attached File: COS_Data_Clean-up_Policy_20230404.pdf
Created: 2023-10-30 14:43:16
Updated: 2024-10-30 23:00:00
Published: 2023-10-30 01:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T20:14:13.495567273
COS Data Clean-up Policy Version 1.2.1 Revised 20230404
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COS Data Cleanup Policy and Procedures
Introduction
Convention of States protects the data of its users. To ensure that user data is protected,
all individuals who will have access to user data must have signed a confidentiality
agreement with COS. The agreement guarantees that each individual will protect the
privacy of such information before the state leaders grant access to the data. The
Convention of States Action Privacy Policy and national, international, and state laws
limit how state leaders may process user data.
While the policy permits us to receive information about supporters from outside
sources to deliver petitions to legislators correctly, we must consider the person's intent.
If it appears that a person did not intend to give us certain information, then leaders
must respect the intention of the supporter.
Please comply with the following policies and instructions to help ensure that we are
correctly respecting the privacy of our users.
General Data Cleanup Policies
●
Except as noted below, do not fill in information not entered by the user, such as
missing name, email, phone number, or street address.
●
With the help of the CitizenBuilder Address Lookup, the USPS Zip Code Lookup
tools, or other public information sources, you may fill in information directly
derived from the user's submitted information.
o
You may add the zip code if the user provides their street address and state.
o
If the user provided their zip code, you may add the city/state.
o
You may add the city/zip if the user provides their name, street address, and
state.
●
You may update information if they have voluntarily given us this information
through another source.
COS Data Clean-up Policy Version 1.2.1 Revised 20230404
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o
For example, if the user provides us with conflicting data through two sources: a
petition form and another form. In that case, you may determine which data is
correct and update the user profile appropriately.
●
You may correct obvious technical errors, such as a mistyped name, address or
address information entered in incorrect fields, or address variations identified with
address and zip code lookup tools.
o
You may use the information in address line 1 if it contains information that
belongs in address line 2, city, state, or zip.
o
You may update variations in city name designation or road name abbreviation
variations like Blvd vs. Boulevard, Hwy 1 vs. Highway 1 vs. US 1, or St vs. Ln vs.
Rd, etc., as identified through address and zip code lookup tools.
●
Except as noted above, if address information is missing or otherwise seems
incorrect, use the US-US Address Correction Template available in both the District
Dashboard and the Follow-up Tools (See the Appendix). You may contact
supporters by telephone or text to confirm addresses or other information.
Data Item Cleanup
Document the change in the profile's Dashboard tab Notes and Comments section
(Action Type – Note) if data items are added or replaced. Add a custom tag to find
and revisit the profile later.
●
Name
o
Correct capitalization.
o
Correct repeat letters at the beginning.
o
Do not alter the name, including translation of non-English characters (Note:
You may remove non-text characters, icons, emoji, etc.)
o
For two people in the name field, do not change the names. Contact the supporter
to determine if the user can submit an additional petition with one name retained
on the original petition. With paper petitions, if one person signed, you may only
use the name of the person that signed. You may create two petitions only if both
people have signed the paper (use the submitted email for one petition and no
email for the other).
o
You may adjust the parts of the name as needed to use the Middle Name field.
●
Email Address
o
Do not add an email that the supporter did not provide.
o
Correct obvious repeat letters.
o
Correct obvious misspelled domain names (gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc.).
COS Data Clean-up Policy Version 1.2.1 Revised 20230404
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o
Correct missing or misspelled top-level domain name (.com) or missing @
symbol. You can find a list of top-level domain names at
https:%%//%%www.iana.org/domains/root/db .
●
Phone Number
o
Do not add a phone number that the supporter did not provide.
o
You may correct a phone number with public information sources if the number
has a simple transposition or a single incorrect digit.
●
Address 1
o
Correct capitalization.
o
Correct repeat letters at the beginning of an address.
o
Move a PO Box number to Address 2 if it is part of the complete street address;
otherwise, leave it in Address 1.
o
If the street address is present, you may temporarily remove or ignore a PO Box
number to verify the correct District Lookup for the profile, then paste it back in.
o
It is recommended, but not required, to leave an apartment, unit, or lot number
that is part of Address 1 or Address 2 in their original location (related to Address
Lookup and District Lookup processing).
o
Add missing spaces, such as changing “123Main” to “123 Main,” and remove
extra spaces or punctuation.
o
Remove Zip Code, city name, or state if repeated as part of Address 1.
●
Address 2
o
Correct capitalization.
o
Correct repeat letters at the beginning.
o
Remove Zip Code, city name, or state if repeated as part of Address 2.
●
City
o
Correct capitalization.
o
Correct repeat letters at the beginning.
o
Remove Zip Code or state if repeated as part of the city.
o
If District Lookup results in a city name different from the city provided by the
supporter, use the supporter-supplied city.
●
State
o
Correct capitalization.
o
Correct repeat letters at the beginning.
o
Can be added when the user provides a Zip.
o
You may correct the state based on the street address and zip if the supporter has
entered a technical error in the address.
●
Zip
o
If blank, it can be added when the user provides the street address/State or the
State/City.
COS Data Clean-up Policy Version 1.2.1 Revised 20230404
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o
You may obtain the ZIP+4 from the District Lookup and update it if only five
digits are present. If the District Lookup does not return a ZIP+4, it does not
exist, or the current search engine did not find it. Please use Profile: Edit:
Notes to document when a +4 is unavailable. There are areas in the US where
the +4 is unnecessary to deliver the mail.
o
ZIP+4 should not contain letters. If Address Lookup provides a ZIP+4 with
letters, correct using District Lookup or other outside sources.
●
Voting Districts
o
If blank, the district information can be added where the address information is
sufficient to determine the correct districts.
o
If no zip +4 is found, determine the district from the address zip.
Special Cases
●
Change of Address – If an address change appears to have occurred, or the lookup
tools suggest a change of address to a new state, use the US-US Address Correction
Template to attempt to obtain corrected information from the supporter. If there is
no response to the template, the state team should contact the supporter by phone
or text to verify the new address. If the state team verifies the new address directly
with the supporter, they should document the change in the supporter profile and
then update the address. If the address is in another state, the current state team
must notify leadership in the new state of the change by COSAction email, taking
care also to make the new state aware of any leadership roles held by the supporter.
If the new address cannot be verified with the supporter, do not change the address.
●
Ban – Use the blue Ban Person button on the profile Ban tab to ban a person whose
views or actions are unfriendly or hostile to COS. Banning will opt the person out of
email/message updates and block access to the dashboard. It will remove the
person's roles and assignments and preserve the email address so that it cannot be
used again to create a profile in CitizenBuilder. Enter a Help Desk ticket to have the
petition revoked.
●
Delete (Profile Delete tab) – Note: This action will destroy the person's profile and
all the associated data (Emails, Petition, Leadership applications, etc.) and cannot
be undone. Deletion also revokes the petition.
ο
Use the blue Delete Person and Add Emails to Ban List button when the
supporter has a valid email address and they have bogus, vulgar, or
inappropriate language as part of their name, address, or email. This action
preserves the email address so that it cannot be used again to create a profile in
CitizenBuilder.
COS Data Clean-up Policy Version 1.2.1 Revised 20230404
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ο
Use the blue Delete Person button when the supporter does NOT have a valid
email address and they have bogus, vulgar, or inappropriate language as part of
their name or address.
ο
Use the blue Delete Person button to delete profiles with no contact information
besides a PO Box.
●
Deceased – Mark a supporter as Deceased when you have sufficient information
regarding their demise. Include the URL with the newspaper obituary or a link to
the funeral home or church proving the final arrangements in the Notes section of
the profile Edit tab. They will appear in the filter summary using the People tool to
locate a profile.
The deceased supporter will remain on the legislator's petition list with an indicator
that the supporter is deceased.
●
Non-United States addresses – Legislative districts cannot be determined for non-
United States addresses, including military APO/FPO/DPO addresses. Attempt to
determine a voting address by sending the Address Correction template asking for
the address of where they are registered to vote. With a military address and a valid
email, the Veterans Coalition< (rhuckleberry@cosaction.com,> Veteran Coalition
National POC, o<r Brian.thomason@cosaction.com,> National Associate Veterans
Coalitions Coordinator) may be able to help contact active military personnel. If you
cannot determine a voting address, add a non-US Address tag to the profile.
Documentation
●
Documentation – Please document in the Dashboard Notes and Comments section
(Action Type – Note) any change you make to a supporter's profile citing why you
made the change.
●
Tags – Add a custom tag to find and revisit the profile later. For example, you may
add a tag for futile efforts to clean up data in a profile. For example, several states
use the ST Clean Up tag with ST as the state initials.
COS Data Clean-up Policy Version 1.2.1 Revised 20230404
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Appendix: US-US Address Correction Template
●
This email template is available in the District Dashboard and the Follow-up. You
can quickly get to the District Dashboard by using the link in the People: User:
Profile Dashboard.
●
You should use the Address Correction Template if there is evidence that a
supporter has a change of address. You need to confirm address changes with the
supporter before any address changes are made to a supporter's account.
●
See the HelpDesk KnowledgeBase for documentation on the Address Correction
Template.
●
When the template is used, all replies are routed to a mailbox monitored by a
special team. They will:
ο
Add the following tag to the profile “Address Correction Template
Received.”
ο
Make any changes required to the account.
ο
Document those changes in the Notes field in the User Profile Edit tab and
the Profile Dashboard Notes.
ο
If the address is in another state, the special team must notify leadership in
the new state of the change by COSAction email, taking care also to make
the new state aware of any leadership roles held by the supporter.
COS Data Clean-up Policy Version 1.2.1 Revised 20230404
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Revision History
Date
Description
By
5/26/2020
Initial Draft
Anne Aycock
Review Initial Draft
Seth Jeacopello
Revisions
Rita Dunaway
Revisions
Robert Kelly
Review
Bud Cornwell, Randy Regnier, Mike Cassidy
Approval
Robert Kelly
6/26/2020
Final Release – Version 1.0
Anne Aycock
2/22/2021
Release Revisions Version 1.1
Anne Aycock
3/2022
Release Revisions Version 1.2
Anne Aycock
1/9/2023
Review
Martin Nolan, Anne Aycock
1/12/2023
Meeting to review COS Privacy Policy
Robert Kelly, Martin Nolan, Anne Aycock
1/22/2023
Document Revision Draft
Martin Nolan
1/31/2023
Review
Bill Wiltschko, Mike Cassidy, Anne Aycock
3/17/2023
Approval
Robert Kelly
3/21/2023
Release Revisions Version 1.2
Anne Aycock