diff --git a/helios/templates/election_view.html b/helios/templates/election_view.html
index 0e783535e0e0a3a5958496dcf2ce49da386d34de..3f8c04c065d7bb588135a36589412c01d33ab1a6 100644
--- a/helios/templates/election_view.html
+++ b/helios/templates/election_view.html
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 {% endif %}
 {% endif %}</h3>
 <p style="padding-top:0px; margin-top:0px">
-<em>{% if election.private_p %}private{%else%}public{% endif %}</em> {{ election.election_type }} created by <u><b>{{election.admin.display_html_small|safe}}</b></u>
+<em>{% if election.private_p %}private{%else%}public{% endif %}</em> {{ election.election_type }}{% if settings.SHOW_USER_INFO %} created by <u><b>{{election.admin.display_html_small|safe}}</b></u>{% endif %}
 {% if election.is_archived %}
 [archived]
 {% endif %}
diff --git a/server_ui/templates/index.html b/server_ui/templates/index.html
index 2c3898a6a8d0f643dd5e849718736c69c3263d25..b21b5026a885fdb909f675742ee07c869742478e 100644
--- a/server_ui/templates/index.html
+++ b/server_ui/templates/index.html
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ More than <b>100,000 votes</b> have been cast using Helios.
   <p>
     {% for election in elections %}
     <div class="panel">
-      <a style="font-size: 1.4em;" href="{% url helios.views.election_shortcut election.short_name %}">{{election.name}}</a> by {{election.admin.display_html_small|safe}}<br />
+      <a style="font-size: 1.4em;" href="{% url helios.views.election_shortcut election.short_name %}">{{election.name}}</a>{% if settings.SHOW_USER_INFO %} by {{election.admin.display_html_small|safe}}{% endif %}<br />
       {{election.description}}
     </div>
     <br />
diff --git a/settings.py b/settings.py
index 544d2d2cd93acd69cf193c6a8d9cb0f79c2cddf8..c9485ffd5552ada57baa15be7f7b374b6b3fa837 100644
--- a/settings.py
+++ b/settings.py
@@ -24,6 +24,10 @@ MASTER_HELIOS = (get_from_env('MASTER_HELIOS', '0') == '1')
 # if turned off, the admin will need to know to go to /auth/login manually
 SHOW_LOGIN_OPTIONS = (get_from_env('SHOW_LOGIN_OPTIONS', '1') == '1')
 
+# sometimes, when the site is not that social, it's not helpful
+# to display who created the election
+SHOW_USER_INFO = (get_from_env('SHOW_USER_INFO', '1') == '1')
+
 DATABASES = {
     'default': {
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2',