Data and API terms of use

1. License

The data in our releases and API responses is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). You may copy, share and adapt it for any purpose, including commercially.

2. Attribution

Credit Values for America and link the source. For a release: “Source: Values for America, Constitution Index, release YYYY-MM (https://www.valuesforamerica.com/data/releases/YYYY-MM), licensed under CC BY 4.0.” For a single grade, link its permalink. Say if you changed the data. API responses carry the attribution in the attribution field and the X-Attribution-Required header.

3. Accurate representation

Grades, Solutions and Think Tank ideas are SI-generated analysis published after automated checks; they are not individually reviewed by a person. Do not present them as reviewed by a person, as legal advice, or as an official government finding. Solutions and ideas are VFA proposals, not law. Voting records are factual aggregates of public roll-call votes; do not present them, or any VFA data, as an endorsement of or opposition to a candidate or party by Values for America. The adoption log records textual matches, not causation.

4. API keys and limits

Keys are free. Without a key the API allows 60 requests a minute per client; with a key, 600 a minute and 50,000 a day. Keep your key private: send it only in the X-API-Key header, never in a URL or public code. One person or project per key. Use the monthly releases for bulk downloads instead of paging the API. We may revoke a key that is shared, abused or used to degrade the service.

5. Your information

For a key we store your name, email, organization and stated use, and per-key request counts, to run the API and contact you about it. We never sell it or add you to a mailing list. See the privacy notice.

6. No warranty

The data is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. Records change: items can be corrected, superseded or unpublished, and every such change is logged at /corrections. Releases themselves never change.

7. Contact

Questions, errors or a higher limit: hello@valuesforamerica.com.