Privacy & Cookies

Gov Transparency Project is built to be private by default. We don't sell data, run ad networks, or require an account. This notice explains the little we do collect, the choices you have, and your rights.

Last updated: June 30, 2026

1. Summary

Here's the short version:

• We don't ask you to create an account, and we don't run advertising.
• We don't collect your name, email, or payment information.
• We never sell or rent your personal information, and we don't share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• One analytics tool is cookieless and collects no personal data. A second, optional analytics tool stays switched off unless you click Accept on our cookie banner.
• You can change or withdraw your choice at any time by clearing this site's storage.

2. What we collect — and don't

We do not collect:

• Names, email addresses, phone numbers, or postal addresses.
• Payment or financial account information (the site is free and sells nothing).
• User accounts, logins, or passwords — there are none.
• Sensitive personal information of any kind.

What we do process is limited, aggregated analytics about how pages are used — for example, which pages are popular, the general type of device or browser, and the country a visit came from. As explained below, one of our analytics tools collects this without any cookies or personal identifiers, and the other runs only if you opt in. Like virtually every website, our hosting infrastructure may briefly process technical request data (such as IP addresses) to deliver and secure the site; we do not use this to build profiles of visitors.

3. Analytics & cookies

We use two lightweight analytics tools to understand which pages are useful. We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, social-media trackers, or fingerprinting.

• Ahrefs Web Analytics — cookieless and privacy-first. It does not set cookies, does not use local storage, and does not collect personally identifiable information. Because it processes no personal data and stores nothing on your device, it runs without requiring consent and is not affected by the cookie banner.
• Google Analytics 4 (GA4) — optional and disabled by default. It does not run, and sets no cookies, until you click Accept on the cookie banner. We implement Google Consent Mode v2 with analytics_storage defaulting to denied, so analytics storage is blocked unless and until you grant consent.

The only first-party storage this site itself sets is a single value that remembers your banner choice. The keys involved are:

If you reject or never accept, no _ga / _ga_* cookies are created. The gtp-consent value is functional, not a tracker — it exists solely to honor your choice.

4. Your choices

When you first visit, a banner lets you Accept or Reject optional analytics cookies. Your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage.

• To change or withdraw consent: clear this site's storage and cookies in your browser settings (this removes gtp-consent and any _ga cookies), then reload — the banner will reappear and you can choose again.
• Browser controls: you can block or delete cookies for this site at any time through your browser's privacy settings without affecting your ability to read the content.
• Do Not Track / Global Privacy Control: because optional analytics are off by default and require an affirmative click, the privacy-protective default already matches a Do-Not-Track (DNT) or Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal. We do not sell or share personal information, so there is nothing for such a signal to opt you out of.

5. Legal bases & your rights

We design the site so that, in normal use, we simply do not hold information that identifies you. That keeps your rights easy to exercise.

EEA / UK (GDPR & UK GDPR). Where optional analytics run, our legal basis is your consent, which you give via the banner and may withdraw at any time. For the cookieless analytics and basic, secure delivery of the site, our basis is our legitimate interest in understanding aggregate usage and keeping the site available and secure. You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to processing, and to data portability, where applicable. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

California (CCPA / CPRA). You have the right to know, access, and delete personal information, to correct it, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We do not sell or share personal information and do not use it for cross-context behavioral advertising, so there is no sale or share to opt out of. We do not discriminate against you for exercising any right.

Because we do not maintain accounts or identifying records, most access or deletion requests are effectively satisfied by you clearing this site's local storage and cookies in your browser, which removes the only data tied to your device. If you have a question about your rights, contact us through the channel below.

6. Third-party services & links

A few independent services help run or are referenced by this site, and their own privacy policies govern their handling of data:

• Analytics providers — the cookieless web-analytics provider and Google Analytics 4 (only when you opt in) process aggregate usage data under their own terms.
• Outbound links to primary sources — we link to public data sources such as the Federal Reserve (FRED), the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the U.S. Treasury, QuiverQuant, and GovSpending.org. When you follow a link, that site's privacy policy and terms apply, not ours.

We don't control third-party sites and aren't responsible for their content or privacy practices.

7. Data sources

The figures on this site come from public records and APIs — for example the Federal Reserve (FRED), the U.S. Treasury, Congress.gov, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Federal Election Commission, and QuiverQuant disclosures. We are an independent, non-governmental publication and are not a government website. These sources relate to public information and are unrelated to any personal data about you as a visitor.

8. Children's privacy

This site is intended for a general, adult audience and is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 where a higher age applies). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. Since we don't collect identifying information from anyone, we don't knowingly collect it from children either. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will address it.

9. Data retention & security

We retain essentially no personal data. The cookieless analytics provider stores only aggregate, non-identifying statistics. If you opt into GA4, its cookies live on your device for the duration set by that service and are removed when you clear site storage. We take reasonable technical measures to serve the site securely (for example, encrypted HTTPS connections), but no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. Because we hold so little, the privacy impact of any incident is minimal by design.

10. Changes & contact

We may update this notice as the site evolves or as laws change. When we do, we'll revise the "Last updated" date above. Material changes will be reflected on this page.

Questions about this notice or your privacy choices? We are an independent project and a public contact channel will be added as the project grows; please check this page for updates.

Gov Transparency Project is not a government website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by any federal agency.