Who is responsible
BetterGov.ph is responsible for personal information processed by Petition.ph. For privacy questions or requests, email bettergovph@gmail.com. This is an independent community platform, not a government service.
What we collect
When you sign, we store your name, email address, petition, submission time, confirmation status and time, and your choices about showing your name and receiving petition updates. New signatures also record your adult declaration, consent version and time, and the petition revision you signed. We also record your confirmed name-sharing permission, its time, and its recipients. Organization representatives provide their organization name, role, and declaration of authority. When you create a petition, we also store the content you submit and your public creator name.
Why we need it
With your consent, we use signing details to administer the petition, confirm your email, prevent duplicate or abusive submissions, and document support. Creator information is used to confirm, review, administer and publish approved petitions. Public name display and petition updates each require a separate optional choice. Declining either does not prevent signing. Technical security processing supports our legitimate interest in protecting the service and its users.
Government submissions and other recipients
Government submission lists contain only the full signer name and, where provided, organization name of counted signers who explicitly authorized that sharing with the decision-makers named on the petition. They do not contain emails, representative roles, or other signing details. This sharing is separate from choosing an abbreviated name or “Anonymous” on the public list. Authorized BetterGov.ph operators access private records to administer the service and respond to privacy requests. Service providers process information as described below. Disclosure required by law is handled separately and limited to the applicable legal requirement.
What people can see
Your email address is not published. After your signature is counted, if you opt in, the signer list shows the first word of your name and the last word’s initial. Otherwise, it shows “Anonymous.” Petition creators’ names and published petition content are public.
Organization representatives appear as individuals according to their name-display choice. Their authority declarations are not independent verification of institutional endorsement. Most petitions count only email-confirmed signatures. Protect Our Digital Democracy currently counts validated submissions immediately without email confirmation. One email can sign each petition once. Email confirmation, when used, does not establish a person’s identity or prevent someone using multiple email addresses.
Storage and service providers
The platform uses Cloudflare to host the application, store petition records, check for automated abuse, and deliver confirmation emails where required. Security checks may process technical information such as your IP address. Application rate-limit records use a keyed hash of your IP address or email instead of storing those values as rate-limit keys.
Cloudflare and email delivery infrastructure may process information outside the Philippines. We remain responsible for assessing provider safeguards and access controls. Confirmation tokens are stored as hashes, private records are excluded from public caches, and reviewer access is restricted. Privacy incidents can be reported to the contact above.
Retention
For petitions requiring confirmation, unconfirmed signatures are removed after seven days. Unconfirmed petition drafts are also removed after seven days. Counted signatures on Protect Our Digital Democracy are kept while the petition is open. Signature records on all petitions are deleted 365 days (one year) after closure or rejection by the next daily cleanup. This removes names, emails, organization and consent details, and linked confirmation records from the application database. Only the aggregate count remains. Confirmation links expire after 24 hours; stored tokens and their associated preferences are removed seven days after expiry. Rate-limit records expire after their applicable security window.
Published petition text and public creator attribution remain as a civic record. Creator contact information is retained while administering the petition and handling related requests; contact us to request removal. Provider backups may outlast deletion from the application database and remain subject to the provider’s recovery and deletion arrangements.
Your choices
You can sign anonymously on the public list and leave updates unchecked. You may request access, correction, a portable copy where applicable, withdrawal of consent, an objection to processing, or removal or blocking of your information. Email bettergovph@gmail.com with the petition link and the request you want us to handle. Use the email associated with your signature so we can verify your request; do not send identity documents unless specifically needed and requested. Withdrawing a signature before its records are deleted removes it from the count. You may also withdraw government name-sharing permission without changing your public display choice. If a list has already been delivered, we will explain what can be recalled or corrected with its recipients. We will explain any legal restriction on fulfilling a request. You may also complain to the National Privacy Commission.
Adults and earlier signatures
New signers must declare that they are at least 18 years old. We do not collect birth dates or identity documents for this declaration. Earlier signatures keep their original consent records and are not treated as having made the new age or organization-authority declarations. Contact us if you believe a child’s information has been submitted.
No advertising profiles
This platform does not use advertising trackers, sell signature lists, or require a social media account. Sharing buttons only open the selected service when you use them.