Terms of Use

OpenBorough is an independent, free, community-built civic resource. It is not an official New York City, New York State, or U.S. government website, and it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any government body.

Who we are

OpenBorough is operated by Devonte G. Duncan as an independent civic technology project for residents of New York City. By using the site, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please don't use the site.

The data is public, and may be imperfect

The legislation, vote records, sponsor lists, campaign finance figures, ethics filings, and election candidate information shown on OpenBorough come from public government sources, including the NYC Council Legistar system, NY State Open Legislation, NYC Open Data, and the NY State Board of Elections.

These sources can contain errors, omissions, or delays, and OpenBorough may reflect those. We provide this information as a convenience for civic engagement, but it is not a substitute for the official record. Always verify important details with the original government source before relying on them for legal, journalistic, or official purposes.

AI-generated summaries and translations

OpenBorough uses AI (Anthropic's Claude) to generate plain-language summaries of legislation and to translate them into Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Bengali. AI-generated content can be inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date. Summaries and translations are clearly marked. For the official text of any bill, consult the source linked on each bill's page.

Civic accountability scores

The scores and rankings shown on OpenBorough are calculated from public data using a methodology we developed. They reflect one possible way to measure accountability and are not an official rating or endorsement. Reasonable people may disagree with our weights and choices. The underlying data, and links to it, are available on each scorecard.

Acceptable use

You may use OpenBorough freely for personal, journalistic, civic, educational, and non-commercial purposes. Please don't:

• Scrape or automate access in a way that disrupts the site for others
• Misrepresent OpenBorough content as official government information
• Use the site to harass, defame, or threaten any person
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems or other users' data
• Reproduce OpenBorough's original content (summaries, translations, scores, written commentary) without attribution and a link back to the source page

Donations

Donations are processed by Buy Me a Coffee on their own platform and are voluntary. Donations are not tax-deductible. OpenBorough is not currently a registered nonprofit organization.

No warranty

OpenBorough is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied. We do not warrant that the site will be accurate, complete, current, uninterrupted, secure, or error-free. Use the site at your own discretion and risk.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, OpenBorough and its operator are not liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the site or reliance on its content, including any loss resulting from decisions made based on data shown here.

Third-party links and content

OpenBorough links to external sites, including government databases, news articles, and donation platforms. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, or practices of those third-party sites.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms from time to time. When we do, the "Last updated" date at the top of this page will change. Continued use of the site after a change means you accept the updated terms.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any disputes will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in New York County, New York.

Contact

Questions about these terms? Reach out at devonteduncan202@gmail.com or open an issue on the project's GitHub repository.