Legal
privacy-2026-08-08This policy describes how LION — Local Integrity Oversight Network ("LION," "we," or "us") collects, uses, and discloses personal information in operating the LION network. Members of the Network make public-records requests in their own names, and LION prepares, files, and manages those requests as each Member's agent. One consequence matters more than anything else on this page: when you Adopt a Request, your first name, last initial, and member number go to a Government Body and become part of a permanent public record. Section 3 explains what that means. Capitalized terms not defined here — "Member," "Request," "Adopt," "Government Body," "Network" — have the meanings given in the Terms of Service. If you adopt a request from the open-records board without joining, this policy covers what LION collects there too.
When you join: your first and last name, your email address, the acknowledgements you tick, and the version of the Terms of Service you accepted, with the date and time.
Technical details of the connection: your IP address, your browser's user-agent string, and the approximate location derived from your IP address — country, region, city, and time zone. LION records these when you join, and when you adopt through the open-records board, and keeps them. Board adoptions also create one-way hashes of the IP and email address used, and some older account records hold the same.
Information you provide: a phone number, if you give one, and anything you write in a message to LION.
Use of the Network: which Government Bodies and issues you follow, which Requests you Adopt, and the correspondence on those Requests. The site collects privacy-first web analytics on page views — aggregate counts, with no cookie and no cross-site identifier.
Contributions: LION never charges for membership and does not collect or store payment details. Contributions are processed by a payment processor on its own pages; LION sees that a contribution occurred, never your card.
LION collects your real legal name for one reason: a request for public information is made by a person, and you are that person. LION acts only as your agent.
When a Request you Adopted is filed, the Government Body is told your first name, last initial, and member number — for example, "Jane D., LION member #1" — with LION named as your agent and LION's address given for the response. Your full name and email address are not sent. The Request itself, and the correspondence concerning it, become the Government Body's own public records, which anyone may request. LION cannot retract them, and neither can you. Note that a first name and last initial may be sufficient to identify you in a small community.
The Act gives a requestor no right to anonymity, and LION does not promise you one. Section 552.222(a) of the Texas Public Information Act permits a Government Body to make an inquiry of a requestor "to establish proper identification." Section 8 of the Terms of Service describes how LION handles a Government Body's request for further identification. LION cannot promise that a Government Body will never learn your full identity.
The remainder is used to operate the Network: your email address to sign you in and to correspond with you about your own Requests; the technical details to prevent abuse and duplicate accounts; the consent record to establish what you agreed to and when.
Government Bodies: first name, last initial, and member number, on Requests you Adopt.
Other signed-in Members: first name, last initial, member number, the number of Requests you have Adopted, and which Requests they are — on the contribution leaderboard and beside each Request. That is behind the sign-in wall.
The public website: nothing that names you.
LION does not sell, rent, or trade personal information, and does not share it for third-party marketing. LION may disclose personal information where required by law — a subpoena, court order, or other valid legal process — or where reasonably necessary to protect a person's safety or LION's legal rights.
LION uses a small number of outside service providers and tools to operate the Network: hosting and security for the site and its database, email delivery, processing of correspondence and records, and payment processing for voluntary contributions. Material handled by those providers and tools can include your name, your email address, and the content of your Requests and the correspondence on them.
These providers process information to operate the Network, and for no other purpose of LION's. LION does not use advertising networks or data brokers, and does not sell your information. LION does not publish an inventory of its providers and systems; if you need to know more to evaluate a specific privacy concern, write to info@lionwatchtx.org.
Your account record — name, email address, connection details, and consent record — is retained for as long as your account exists. LION does not currently purge IP addresses, user-agent strings, or derived location on a schedule; if that changes, this section will change with it.
Your consent record is retained after your account closes. It establishes what you authorized on the day a Request was filed in your name, and it protects both you and LION.
Requests, correspondence, and records produced by Government Bodies are retained indefinitely. They are public records and part of LION's published work.
Access and correction: your name is editable in your account settings. For anything else, email LION and we will tell you what is held and correct what is wrong.
Deletion: close your account from your account settings; to have your personal details removed as well, email info@lionwatchtx.org. Two things LION cannot remove: your consent record — which retains your email address, the version you accepted, the date, and the IP address you joined from — and anything already filed with or produced by a Government Body, which is beyond LION's control by then. Deletion is performed manually; allow a reasonable time.
Email: LION sends only transactional mail — your sign-in link, replies to messages you send, and correspondence about your own Requests. There is no marketing email and no newsletter.
Analytics: The site's analytics set no cookie and do not follow you to other sites; there is nothing to opt out of.
The site is served over encrypted connections, and sign-in uses an emailed link rather than a stored password. Treat a sign-in email like a key — anyone who has it can reach your account. LION uses commercial hosting and security services, but no system is perfectly secure, and LION does not warrant the security of any information you provide.
The Network is for adults. You must be eighteen or older to join, and LION does not knowingly collect information from anyone under eighteen. If LION learns that it has, the information will be deleted.
LION may update this policy. Each version carries a version identifier and an effective date at the top. If a change materially affects what is done with personal information, Members will be notified before it takes effect.
Privacy questions, corrections, and deletion requests: info@lionwatchtx.org
Anything about a specific Request or its records: openrecordsagent@lionwatchtx.org
LION — Local Integrity Oversight Network — is a public-records analytics practice based in North Texas. LION is not a law firm, and this policy is not legal advice. LION's handling of your information is also governed by the Terms of Service.