About DCipher

What this is

DCipher is a free tool that helps DC residents find every elected official who represents them, from their ANC single-member district to the U.S. Capitol. Enter an address, and DCipher shows you all 19 of your elected officials — with one-click emailing, social media, and plain-language explanations of what each office actually does.

Why this exists

DC government is unusually complex. Most residents can name the Mayor and maybe their ward councilmember, but very few know which of the 296 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners represents their actual block — even though ANCs vote on liquor licenses, zoning, traffic patterns, and other decisions that shape daily life. DCipher exists to close that gap. The fewer steps between "I have an opinion" and "I emailed the right person," the more responsive local government gets.

Who built it

DCipher is an independent civic project, built and maintained by Anthony Field — based in the DC metro area, with experience in local campaigns and civic technology. It's not affiliated with any campaign, organization, party, or government agency.

Data and privacy

DCipher doesn't have user accounts and doesn't track you. The only thing stored is your most recent single-member district code, saved locally in your browser so you don't have to re-enter your address every visit. That data never leaves your device. We don't log addresses, we don't sell or share anything, and there's nothing to opt out of because there's nothing to collect.

Where the data comes from

All data here is public information from official or open civic sources.

• DC Master Address Repository (MAR) — DC government's official address-to-district lookup
• OpenANC.org — community-maintained database of ANC commissioners (CC0 licensed)
• dccouncil.gov — current DC Council members and contact info
• Open Data DC — boundary maps for ANCs, single-member districts, and wards
• Official agency websites for the Mayor, Attorney General, Delegate, and Shadow Senators/Representative

If you spot an error — a wrong email, an outdated commissioner, anything — please let me know.

Contact

Found a bug, have feedback, or want to send a correction? Email [CONTACT EMAIL PLACEHOLDER]. For organizations interested in using DCipher for issue-based outreach campaigns, please reach out — there's a simple URL pattern that lets you pre-fill the email composer with your campaign's message.