Terms of use

Version 1 · Effective [EFFECTIVE DATE]

These terms are also published in Greek. If you live in Greece, the Greek version binds you. If the two versions differ, the one more favourable to you applies. [decision: which language version prevails]

About these terms

These terms are a contract between you and [OPERATOR NAME] ("we", "us"), which runs Pollies. The contract starts when you create an account. Our details are on the contact page. [decision: operator entity and seat; no contract can be concluded while the operator details are placeholders]

If you only read Pollies, you don't enter a contract with us. The conditions in Sharing and quoting results still apply when you reuse our results, and so does the limit on heavy automated reading in Acceptable use.

How the agreement is made

You don't need an account to read results. To vote, you:

enter your email address and the 6-digit code we send you, which creates your account;
accept these terms and give your consent before your first vote.

You can read, save and print these terms at any time. Earlier versions stay available on our site. If you typed the wrong email address, go back and change it before entering the code.

What Pollies is

Pollies is a website where you can vote in polls on current questions and see the results.

We choose and write every poll. Users can't create polls or post comments.
Anyone can read results and integrity proofs.
To vote, you need an account and must give consent once.
Each account can vote once in each poll.
Results are shown in two tallies: **All votes**, and **Verified votes** from accounts with a paid subscription.

What Pollies is not

**Not a state vote.** No government, election authority or other public body runs or recognises our polls. A result has no legal effect and doesn't oblige anyone to do anything.
**Not a representative survey.** People choose for themselves whether to take part. We don't select a sample, weight results or calculate a margin of error. A result tells you how the people who voted answered, and nothing more. See [how results are produced](methodology.md).
**Not identity checking.** We don't check who you are, how old you are, your nationality or where you live. "Verified" means an account pays for a subscription with a card that verifies no other account. It doesn't mean identity has been checked.
**Not advice.** Results aren't legal, financial, political or any other advice.

Who can use Pollies

Reading results

Anyone can read results, proofs and these texts, without an account.

Voting

To vote, you must:

be 18 or older ;
use your own account, and only one account;
give the consent described in the [privacy notice](privacy-notice.md#political-opinions-and-your-explicit-consent).

The minimum age of 18 applies to accounts, voting and the subscription, everywhere in the EU.

We don't restrict voting by nationality or where you live. [decision: whether Pollies' tallies on political topics are δημοσκοπήσεις (opinion polls) under Greek Law 3603/2007 on every day, not only in quiet periods; if they are, Art. 7(3) limits who may take part in them]

Paying for a verified subscription

You must be 18 or older to subscribe. The subscription terms set out the other conditions.

Your account

**One person, one account.** Don't create or use more than one account, and don't let anyone else use yours.
**Use an email address only you control.** Anyone who can read that inbox can sign in to your account and see which polls it took part in. Don't use a work email address, or one that other people can read. Keep it secure.
**Tell us about misuse.** If you think someone else has used your account, write to [CONTACT EMAIL].
**No name needed.** We don't ask for your name.
**Unused accounts.** If you create an account but never give consent, we delete it after 30 days. - **Deleting your account.** Deleting your account from your account page isn't built yet. Today our database refuses to delete an account that took part in a poll that is still open, so a deletion waits until those polls have closed. [decision: whether deletion may wait for open polls to close (PT451, D-62)] What happens when you delete your account is explained in the [privacy notice](privacy-notice.md#deleting-your-account).

How voting works

One vote per account per poll

Each account can take one ballot in each poll. The database refuses a second one. If you delete your account while a poll is open, a new account with the same email address or card can't vote again in that poll. ### Your vote can't be changed

Once you confirm your vote, it is final. You can't change or withdraw it. Our database refuses any change to a cast ballot. We don't record which ballot is yours, so we can't pick out your ballot to change it. The privacy notice explains the limits of this.

Poll periods and extensions

Each poll shows when it opens and closes.

If voting was blocked by a problem on our side, we extend the poll by the time lost, and we show every extension on the poll page. - An extension only makes a poll longer. We never shorten a poll or close it early. - The only exception is a legal withdrawal, explained in [When we withdraw a poll for legal reasons](#when-we-withdraw-a-poll-for-legal-reasons).

When results are shown

Some polls show results while voting is open. Others show them only after closing. Each poll says which.
While a tally has too few votes, we don't show how it splits, to protect the people who voted. ### Quiet periods before elections

Many EU countries restrict publishing opinion poll results for a period before an election. Our results aren't opinion polls, but as a precaution, during such a period we don't publish per-option results of polls related to that election, anywhere on Pollies. - Voting normally continues, and polls close on time.

If a court or authority orders it, we pause voting on the related polls, and the poll page says so. - We also hide the total number of votes. [decision: show total vote count during a quiet period (Q-14)]
We publish the results when the quiet period ends.
The [quiet period notice](election-blackout-notice.md) explains what you will see.

Checking your vote

After you vote, you get a receipt code. You can use it to check that a ballot with that code is in the list we publish. The code doesn't show your choice, so on its own it can't prove to anyone how you voted. Someone with access to our database could match a code to the ballot it belongs to. That is why nobody should ask you for your receipt, and why we never ask for it.

Verified votes

A vote counts as verified if your account had an active verified subscription when you took your ballot. - A vote you already cast is never upgraded if you subscribe later.

A refund, a dispute or the end of your subscription never removes a vote you already cast.

Acceptable use

You must not:

**use bots or scripts** to sign in, take ballots or vote;
**create or use more than one account**, or use someone else's;
**buy, sell or trade votes or accounts**, or offer anything in return for voting a certain way;
**pressure someone to vote a certain way**, or to show you their receipt;
**deliberately get around the one-card rule**, for example by using many virtual cards to verify several accounts. Simply paying with a card that already verifies another account isn't a breach: the [subscription terms](subscription-terms.md#if-your-card-already-verifies-another-account) explain what happens;
**get around our safety checks**, such as the bot check or rate limits;
**try to find out how another person voted**, or link a ballot to a person;
**overload or disrupt Pollies**, or test its security outside our [disclosure policy](contact-imprint.md#security);
**use Pollies to break the law**, for example to commit fraud, to harass or threaten someone, or to break election law.

The rules for quoting results are in Sharing and quoting results.

You may read and download published results and proofs with automated tools, including to check our work, as long as you don't put a heavy load on the service.

How we enforce these rules

What we may do

If we have good reason to believe you have broken these terms, we may:

refuse a request, such as a ballot request;
suspend your account, but only for a serious breach, or while we investigate a possible serious breach, and for at most 30 days [decision: maximum suspension length];
close your account, for a serious breach or repeated breaches.

Serious breaches are: using bots or scripts; creating or using more than one account, or someone else's; buying, selling or trading votes or accounts; getting around our safety checks; overloading or attacking Pollies; and trying to link a ballot to a person.

While your account is suspended, you can still cancel or withdraw from a subscription, and ask us to delete your account. What happens to a period you paid for is in the subscription terms. Our automated checks, the bot check and rate limits, may refuse a ballot request that looks automated or comes too often. If that happens, try again later. If you think a check refused you wrongly, write to [CONTACT EMAIL], subject "Refused". If our checks were wrong and you lost the chance to vote, we tell you so and, where we can, extend the poll. Every suspension and closure is decided by a person.

Reasons and appeals

If we suspend or close your account, we email you the reason, the rule involved and the facts we relied on. You can reply to that email within 6 months to ask us to review the decision. A person who didn't make the first decision reviews it, and we tell you the outcome.

Votes already cast

We can't remove a vote that has already been cast, even if it came from an account that broke these rules, because ballots are never changed or deleted, and we don't record which ballot belongs to which account. This is why our checks run before a ballot is given.

Serious cases

If a breach may be a crime, such as an attack on our systems, we may report it to the authorities.

Our commitments

**Neutral wording.** We aim to write polls so that no answer is favoured, and we check each poll against written wording tests before it opens. From 2 minutes before a poll opens, nobody can edit its question, description, answer options, source link, category or results mode. If you think a poll's wording is biased, write to [CONTACT EMAIL], subject "Wording". A second person reviews it [decision: second reviewer for wording complaints], and if we agree, we add a dated note beside the unchanged poll. - **No paid political polls.** We don't accept money or anything else to run, promote or place a political poll.
**No removing results we dislike.** We never withdraw a poll because of its result.
**Honest labels.** Every result says it comes from an open online poll and doesn't represent the population. Our own posts, videos and press material use the same label. - **Published proofs.** We publish the integrity proof of every closed poll.
**Election quiet periods.** As a precaution, we hold back results of polls related to an election before voting day, as the [quiet period notice](election-blackout-notice.md) explains.
**Keeping Pollies running.** We work to keep Pollies available, but we can't promise it will never be interrupted. We may pause it for maintenance or security. We announce planned maintenance on the site in advance where we can. If a problem on our side blocks voting in a poll, we extend the poll by the time lost. ## When we withdraw a poll for legal reasons

We may withdraw a poll only on one of these grounds, which are the same as in the poll withdrawal policy:

a court or public authority orders it;
a complaint that the poll unlawfully harms someone's rights succeeds, for example because it defames a named or identifiable person;
after opening, we find that running or publishing the poll breaks the law;
a serious integrity incident means the result can't be trusted.

While we assess a complaint about a named or identifiable person, we may take the poll's results and share images offline for a short time. That never changes a ballot or a count.

When we withdraw a poll, we say so on the poll page, with the date and the kind of reason. Its integrity proof stays published, unless a court orders otherwise. Until that state is built, we can only take a poll's own pages offline by hand, as the poll withdrawal policy explains.

Intellectual property and sharing results

Our content

The Pollies name, logo, design, texts and poll wording belong to us or to those who license them to us. You may not copy them to make a service that looks like ours.

Sharing and quoting results

You may quote, share and republish Pollies results and proof data for any purpose, including in news reports and research, if you:

credit Pollies and link to the poll;
keep the non-representative label with the numbers;
say which tally you quote (All votes or Verified votes), the number of votes and the poll dates;
don't present a result as something it isn't, such as an election result, an official vote, or what a whole population thinks (for example "Greeks think" or "the public says").

If you break these conditions, this permission ends for that use, and we may ask you to correct or remove it. To report misuse of a Pollies result, write to [CONTACT EMAIL], subject "Misuse".

[decision: licence for results and proof data]

See how to cite a result honestly.

Liability

What we are fully responsible for

We are fully responsible, without any limit, for:

harm we cause on purpose or through gross negligence;
death or personal injury caused by our negligence;
harm caused by our breaking data protection law, such as the GDPR;
liability under product liability law;
your rights when a paid service doesn't work as described, set out in the [subscription terms](subscription-terms.md#legal-guarantee);
anything else for which the law doesn't allow liability to be limited.

Other loss

For other loss caused by our slight negligence in performing our contract with you, we are responsible only for loss that was reasonably foreseeable when the contract was made. We aren't responsible for loss that nobody could have foreseen. [decision: liability for slight negligence under the governing law]

Results are not advice

Results show how the people who chose to vote answered. If you use a result for a decision, please keep in mind what it can and can't tell you. See how results are produced.

Your rights under consumer law

Nothing in these terms takes away or limits rights you have as a consumer that can't be changed by contract. That includes your rights under the law of the EU country where you live.

Changes to these terms

We may change these terms only for one of these reasons:

a change in the law, or a decision by a court or authority that applies to us;
to deal with a security or integrity problem;
to describe a new or changed feature, where the change doesn't reduce your rights;
to make the terms clearer without changing what they mean.

Any other change needs your agreement before it applies to you.

How we tell you:

**Changes that don't affect your rights or obligations,** such as clearer wording or a new contact address, take effect when we publish them. Every change, however small, is listed with its date in the change history of these terms. - **Every other change** is announced at least 30 days before it takes effect, on the site and by email. [decision: notice period for material changes] If the law forces a change sooner, we tell you as soon as we can. Before your next vote after a change takes effect, we ask you to accept the new terms. If you don't accept a change that affects your rights or obligations, you can stop using Pollies and ask us to delete your account, at no cost. If you pay for a subscription, you can also end it before the change applies to you and get back the unused part of the period you paid for. We never treat simply continuing to read Pollies as accepting a change.

Ending your use of Pollies

You can stop using Pollies at any time. Deleting your account is explained in Your account. We may close your account:

straight away, for a serious breach or repeated breaches of these terms, as described in [What we may do](#what-we-may-do);
with at least 30 days' notice by email, only if we close Pollies or stop offering voting where you live, if the law or an authority requires it, or if your account has been unused for a long period [decision: inactive-account period (retention schedule)].

If we ever close Pollies, we will tell you at least 30 days in advance.

Governing law and courts

These terms are governed by the law of the EU member state where [OPERATOR NAME] is established. [decision: governing law and courts follow the operator seat]

If you are a consumer, this doesn't take away the protection of the laws of the EU country where you live that can't be changed by contract. You can always bring a claim in the courts where you live, and we can bring a claim against you only in those courts.

If you live outside the EU, the mandatory consumer law of your country may still apply. [decision: law and courts for consumers who live outside the EU]

Complaints and dispute resolution

If you have a complaint, please write to [CONTACT EMAIL] first. We reply within 14 days.

If we can't settle a complaint with you, we will tell you in writing which alternative dispute resolution (ADR) body can handle it, and whether we will take part. [decision: join an ADR scheme or not] Each EU country has approved ADR bodies for consumer disputes, and your national consumer authority can point you to them. You can also go to court.

The EU online dispute resolution platform closed on 20 July 2025, so we don't link to it.

Contact

Email [CONTACT EMAIL]. We reply in English or Greek. All our contact details are on the contact page.