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Is digitaldemocracy.org a Scam? Security Check Results - CalMatters

digitaldemocracy.org Security Report Summary

digitaldemocracy.org received a security score of 51 out of 100 in Guard's comprehensive security analysis, classified as "Elevated Risk". This report covers CalMatters's website security posture. CalMatters operates in the Government industry in United States.

Digital Democracy by CalMatters is a specialized platform providing transparency into California's political processes through an AI-powered database tracking public hearings, political donations, legislative bills, and votes. The platform targets California residents, journalists, and policymakers seeking detailed insights into state governance. Technically, the site leverages modern web technologies including React and Next.js, integrates Google Maps and analytics tools, and employs a professional design with good mobile optimization. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and asynchronous script loading, though it lacks explicit security headers and privacy policies. The absence of WHOIS data limits domain trust evaluation but the website content and branding strongly indicate a legitimate non-profit media entity. Overall, the site offers high-quality content and user experience but should improve privacy compliance and security transparency.

The security scan identified 37 findings across security headers, SSL/TLS, DNS health, email security, GDPR compliance, and NIS2 compliance analysis modules.

Technologies detected: React (Next.js), Google Tag Manager, Google Maps API, Headless UI, Prism (marketing/analytics), Web fonts (woff2, ttf).

About this security scan

Guard performs automated security assessments of websites by analyzing SSL/TLS certificates, HTTP security headers, DNS configuration, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), GDPR compliance indicators, NIS2 directive compliance, network exposure, and AI-powered business intelligence. Each report provides domain-specific findings, risk scores, and actionable recommendations.

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Is digitaldemocracy.org Safe? Security Analysis for CalMatters

https://digitaldemocracy.org

Check if digitaldemocracy.org is a scam or legitimate. Free security scan and reviews.

GovernmentUnited Statesmedium
React (Next.js)Google Tag ManagerGoogle Maps APIHeadless UIPrism (marketing/analytics)+1 more
Analyzed 10/8/2025Completed 12:42:08 PM8mo ago
51
Security Score
MEDIUM RISK

Below Government avg (70)

10,000+

Domains scanned

500+

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AI Summary

Digital Democracy by CalMatters is a specialized platform providing transparency into California's political processes through an AI-powered database tracking public hearings, political donations, legislative bills, and votes. The platform targets California residents, journalists, and policymakers seeking detailed insights into state governance. Technically, the site leverages modern web technologies including React and Next.js, integrates Google Maps and analytics tools, and employs a professional design with good mobile optimization. Security posture is solid with HTTPS and asynchronous script loading, though it lacks explicit security headers and privacy policies. The absence of WHOIS data limits domain trust evaluation but the website content and branding strongly indicate a legitimate non-profit media entity. Overall, the site offers high-quality content and user experience but should improve privacy compliance and security transparency.

Detected Technologies

React (Next.js)Google Tag ManagerGoogle Maps APIHeadless UIPrism (marketing/analytics)Web fonts (woff2, ttf)

15 urgent findings need attention

1 critical · 14 high

  • + 7 more findings in the full report below
Continuous monitoring

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Guard tracks your live infrastructure daily: certificate expiry, DNS & mail authentication drift, uptime changes, subdomain inventory, and unexpected tracker or content shifts. A full timeline captures every diff so you can prove remediation and spot regressions instantly.

Security drift alerts

Risk score drops, new high-severity issues, and header hardening gaps

Compliance watch

GDPR / NIS2 posture changes with governance evidence snapshots

Infrastructure surface

Unexpected open services, SSL expiry, DNS & email authentication changes

Content & tracker intelligence

Marketing tech shifts, analytics drift, and AI recommendation updates

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Security Headers

7 findings

20/100

GDPR Compliance

3 findings

58/100

NIS2 Compliance

8 findings

17/100

Email Security

5 findings

60/100

🧠AI Business Intelligence

Technology stack, business insights, and market analysis powered by AI.

Business Intelligence

Market & Strategic Analysis

CalMatters operates as a non-profit media organization focused on government transparency and political data journalism in California. Its Digital Democracy project uses AI to aggregate and present comprehensive legislative and political data, positioning it as a niche leader in this domain. The business model centers on providing public interest information, supported by donations as indicated by linked donation domains. The platform's partnership ecosystem includes related CalMatters domains for donations and content management. Growth indicators include extensive legislator profiles and curated issue agendas. The organization targets a broad audience interested in California politics, including voters, researchers, and journalists.

Security Posture Analysis

Comprehensive Security Assessment

The website demonstrates a mature security posture with enforced HTTPS and no visible exposure of sensitive data. Use of modern frameworks and asynchronous loading of third-party scripts reduces risk. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content Security Policy and HSTS is a gap. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information is provided, which limits transparency for security issues. Privacy compliance is weak due to missing privacy and cookie policies and lack of consent mechanisms, posing potential regulatory risks under GDPR and similar laws. Overall, the security maturity is good but could be enhanced with formal policies and headers.

Strategic Recommendations

Priority Actions for Security Improvement

1

Implement comprehensive privacy and cookie policies with user consent mechanisms to improve compliance.

Observations

AI-powered comprehensive website and business analysis.

AI-Enhanced Website Analysis

Business Insights

Company:

CalMatters

Description:

Digital Democracy is a custom-built AI tool that tracks public hearings, political donations, bills, votes, and more in California to provide transparency on decision-making.

Key Services:
AI-powered tracking of public hearingsDatabase of political donationsLegislator profiles and activity trackingCurated state agenda on major topics
Content Quality:

excellent

Branding:

consistent

Technical Stack

Technologies:
React (Next.js)Google Tag ManagerGoogle Maps APIHeadless UIPrism (marketing/analytics)Web fonts (woff2, ttf)
Frameworks:
Next.jsReact
Performance:

moderate

Mobile:

good

Accessibility:

basic

SEO:

good

Security Assessment

Security Score:
85/100
Best Practices:
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Use of async loading for scripts

Analytics & Tracking

Services:
Google Tag ManagerPrism
Tracking Level:moderate
Privacy Compliance:poor

Advertising & Marketing

Tracking Pixels:
Prism
Marketing Tools:
Prism
Transparency Level:basic

Website Quality Assessment

Design Quality:excellent
User Experience:good
Content Relevance:excellent
Navigation Clarity:good
Professionalism:excellent
Trustworthiness:high

Key Observations

1

Website is a data transparency platform focused on California politics.

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🛡️Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis and recommendations.

Security Headers

HTTP security headers analysis

20/100
Score

Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

HIGH

Forces HTTPS connections

Missing X-Frame-Options header

HIGH

Prevents clickjacking attacks

Missing X-Content-Type-Options header

MEDIUM

Prevents MIME type sniffing

Missing Content-Security-Policy header

HIGH

Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

Missing X-XSS-Protection header

MEDIUM

Legacy XSS protection (deprecated but still recommended)

Missing Referrer-Policy header

LOW

Controls referrer information sent with requests

Missing Permissions-Policy header

MEDIUM

Controls browser features and APIs

👤GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment under GDPR regulations.

GDPR Compliance

Privacy and data protection assessment

58/100
Score

No Cookie Policy found

HIGH

GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

No Cookie Consent Banner found

HIGH

GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

Privacy policy may not be GDPR compliant

MEDIUM

Privacy policy lacks explicit GDPR compliance elements

GDPR Compliance Analysis

Privacy Policy85% confidence
Cookie Policy0% confidence
Contact Information Found90% confidence
phone

🛡️NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive compliance assessment.

NIS2 Compliance

Network & Information Security Directive

17/100
Score

No information security framework found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity and information security measures

No vulnerability disclosure policy

MEDIUM

NIS2 encourages coordinated vulnerability disclosure

No security policy documentation found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented cybersecurity governance and risk management

No incident response procedures found

HIGH

NIS2 requires documented incident response and business continuity plans

No business continuity planning found

MEDIUM

NIS2 emphasizes operational resilience and business continuity

No security contact information

HIGH

NIS2 requires clear incident reporting channels

No vulnerability reporting mechanism

MEDIUM

Clear vulnerability reporting supports coordinated disclosure

No NIS2 reference found

LOW

Consider explicitly mentioning NIS2 compliance efforts

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📧Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation and email security assessment.

Email Security

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC validation

60/100
Score

No DKIM record found

MEDIUM

DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails

No BIMI Record

LOW

BIMI displays brand logos in email clients

No MTA-STS Policy

MEDIUM

MTA-STS enforces TLS for email delivery

No TLS-RPT Record

LOW

TLS-RPT provides reporting for email TLS issues

No email authentication configured

CRITICAL

Domain is vulnerable to email spoofing

SPF
Sender Policy Framework
DKIM
DomainKeys Identified Mail
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication
MX Records
Mail Exchange Records
BIMI
Brand Indicators
MTA-STS
Mail Transfer Agent Security
TLS-RPT
TLS Reporting
DNSSEC
DNS Security

🏆SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis.

SSL/TLS Security

Certificate validity and encryption analysis

52/100
Score

Weak Protocols Supported

HIGH

Server supports weak protocols: TLSv1.1

OCSP Stapling Not Enabled

LOW

OCSP stapling improves performance and privacy

Certificate Transparency Not Implemented

LOW

Certificate is not logged in Certificate Transparency logs

SSL Certificate Expires Within 90 Days

MEDIUM

SSL certificate expires in 43 days

Weak SSL Key Length

HIGH

SSL certificate uses 256-bit key, which is considered weak

Partial SSL/TLS Assessment

LOW

Completed 3 of 4 security checks due to time constraints

Protocol Support

TLSv1.3TLSv1.2TLSv1.1

OCSP Status

OCSP Stapling Disabled

📊DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment.

DNS Health

DNS configuration and security assessment

25/100
Score

Unregistered MX Record

HIGH

MX record points to unregistered domain: aaokjx6oujqzzlzp6unfsgh4spsyqxbs.dkim.amazonses.com

Unregistered MX Record

HIGH

MX record points to unregistered domain: r5r4ct7km6dnsprt3urtf4xc74slzxq2.dkim.amazonses.com

Unregistered MX Record

HIGH

MX record points to unregistered domain: r65w2pt2al5klj5sdutmqfebfhcxqzy2.dkim.amazonses.com

DNSSEC Not Enabled

MEDIUM

DNSSEC is not configured for this domain

CAA Records Not Configured

LOW

Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) records not found

Domain Delete Lock Not Enabled

LOW

Domain can be deleted without additional verification

No DMARC Record

MEDIUM

DMARC policy not configured

Domain Registration Details

Domain Age
21 years(mature)
Expiry Risk
low(expired)
Protection Level
basicDNSSEC OFF

DNS Records

A Records:192.0.66.180
Name Servers:
dns1.name-services.com
dns2.name-services.com
dns3.name-services.com
dns4.name-services.com
dns5.name-services.com
MX Records:
1: aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt1.aspmx.l.google.com
5: alt2.aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt3.aspmx.l.google.com
10: alt4.aspmx.l.google.com
10: aaokjx6oujqzzlzp6unfsgh4spsyqxbs.dkim.amazonses.com
10: r5r4ct7km6dnsprt3urtf4xc74slzxq2.dkim.amazonses.com
10: r65w2pt2al5klj5sdutmqfebfhcxqzy2.dkim.amazonses.com
SOA:Serial: 1756342985, TTL: 300s

DNSSEC Status

DNSSEC Not Enabled

DNS Performance

Resolution Time:182ms

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis.

Network Security

Port scanning and network exposure analysis

100/100
Score

Good Network Security Posture

LOW

No unnecessary services detected on common risky ports

How does digitaldemocracy.org compare?

See how digitaldemocracy.org stacks up against similar websites in the same industry.

🔧Technical Analysis

Detailed technical findings and analysis from AI assessment.

Technical Analysis

Comprehensive security assessment findings

Additional Findings

The website is built on a modern React/Next.js stack, integrating Google Maps API and analytics tools such as Google Tag Manager and Prism. It uses a headless WordPress backend for content management. Performance is moderate with good mobile responsiveness and SEO optimization. The site employs multiple web fonts and asynchronous script loading to optimize user experience. Technical debt appears low, but the lack of explicit hosting provider information and security headers suggests room for infrastructure hardening. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports the business goals effectively with opportunities for security and privacy enhancements.
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Marketing Intelligence

Contact emails, phone numbers & warm leads

49.90 €one-time • Incl. 21% VAT

Plan Comparison

FeaturePDF ReportMarketing+
Full security analysis
Professional PDF export
Email delivery
Lifetime access + unlock code
Contact emails & phones
Marketing outreach data

Already purchased?

Order summary

Domaindigitaldemocracy.org
Access tierFull report or marketing add-on

Digital reports are delivered immediately after payment. By continuing you acknowledge the withdrawal waiver described in our Returns & Refunds policy.

VisaMastercardApple PayGoogle Pay

Secure payments processed via EveryPay. Prices in EUR; Incl. 21% VAT.

SEQ SIA

Lastadijas 12 k-3, Riga, Latvia, LV-1050

Reg. No. 40203410806 • VAT LV40203410806

Support: guard@offseq.com+371 2256 5353

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