Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2026 · Plain English, no fine print.

Govwatch.app exists to make congressional and executive accountability data easier to understand. Our default posture is to collect as little about you as possible and never sell it. This page explains what we do collect, why, and what your options are.

What we collect

Anonymous usage analytics. We use Vercel Analytics, Vercel Speed Insights, and PostHog to count page views, understand which pages load slowly, and see which features people use. These tools record things like your approximate country, device type, browser, referring site, and which URLs you visited. We do not tie this to your name, email, or any identifying information.

Cookies (strictly necessary + analytics). The only cookies we set directly are: a short-lived session cookie if you log in, a one-time banner dismissal cookie, and analytics cookies from the services above. You can decline non-essential cookies from the banner at the bottom of the site.

Advertising (Google AdSense). We show a small number of advertisements to help cover hosting and API costs. Ads are served by Google AdSense. Google may set its own cookies to show more relevant ads based on your prior visits to this and other sites across the web. You can opt out of personalized advertising at Google's Ad Settings, or opt out of third-party cookie use by visiting aboutads.info.

What we do NOT do. We do not build user profiles, sell data to brokers, upload visitor lists to ad platforms, track you across unrelated sites, or use fingerprinting beyond what our analytics providers do for basic fraud prevention.

Data retention

Analytics data is retained by our providers according to their defaults: Vercel Analytics retains 6 months of aggregated data; PostHog retains up to 7 years for raw events unless we delete sooner. Nothing in those stores is linked to an identified person for this site.

If you contact us by email, we keep those messages for as long as needed to respond and for reasonable recordkeeping.

Your rights

Under GDPR (EU/UK), CCPA (California), and similar laws, you can ask us to:

  • Tell you what information we have about you
  • Delete any information tied to you
  • Stop processing your information for a given purpose
  • Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (we don't do this, but you still have the right)

Email privacy@govwatch.app with your request. We respond within 30 days.

Children

Govwatch.app is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with information, email privacy@govwatch.app and we will delete it.

Data sources shown on the site

Data about Members of Congress, bills, votes, campaign finance, executive actions, and clemency grants comes from public government sources (Congress.gov, FEC, GovInfo, the U.S. Census Bureau, the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney) and public academic datasets. None of that data comes from site visitors. See our About page for a full list.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this page with a new "Last updated" date if we materially change what we collect or how we use it. Substantive changes will also be disclosed via the cookie banner.

Contact

Questions about privacy, data, or this policy: privacy@govwatch.app. General questions: team@govwatch.app.