Privacy

Mob Knowledge does not ask for an account, a name, or an email.

The vote

A private vote stores the question, the choices, and which random browser id picked which choice. The id is an httpOnly cookie created the first time you vote. It is not your name. Anyone with the link can vote, so the link is the privacy boundary. The browser that created the vote keeps a key locally so it can close voting. That key is stored only as a hash on the server. The same random browser id is attached when a vote is created to enforce a limit of five new private votes per New York calendar day. Private vote links expire after 90 days.

Big Pool Voting

Some questions are written into the site. A question someone adds is stored with its answers and the same random browser id. A vote stores the question id, the choice, and that id. Before you answer, a pie and a line show how the votes are split and how they moved, without naming the answers. After you answer, that pie names each choice, a matching color sits beside it, and the line steps to the new tally. Names stay off until this browser casts a vote. The voter id is created only when you pick an answer. The id is not your name. Questions from a private vote link are not added to this list.

When you vote or change an answer, the site stores the time of that action with the question id, choice id, and random browser id. Each change adds a history entry used to draw how the totals moved over time. Older votes that predate that history are still included in totals but not placed on the timeline.

Live voting and networks

On the listed live questions, the site reads the connection's IP address and turns it into a one-way network hash. Only that hash and the random browser id are stored for this check; the full IP address is not written to the vote database or shown publicly. The check keeps one vote per browser and limits each hashed network to 48 different browsers for each live question.

A question, an other answer, or a private vote that is turned away is emailed to the site owner, including the wording that was submitted. It is not posted. A flag uses the same random browser id. One flag leaves the post up. Three different browsers send it for review, and that review is emailed too. While a post is under review it is not shown.

Advertising

Pages with a question or a private vote load Google AdSense. Google and other vendors may place and read cookies on your browser, and may use web beacons and IP addresses, to deliver those ads and measure them.

How Google uses information from sites or apps that use their services describes that collection.

You can opt out of personalized ads in Google Ads Settings, or through aboutads.info.

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, Google’s consent message is shown before an ad loads.