Privacy Policy

Editorial Independence & How Content Is Produced

PlainSpending is data-first: the spending figures come from USASpending.gov (U.S. Department of the Treasury) and the contract/grant-termination figures from the DOGE.gov savings API, loaded programmatically and rendered into profiles and rankings directly from those source records. The surrounding guides and framing are compiled by the PlainSpending editorial team, which is responsible for editorial standards and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from any federal agency, contractor, grant recipient, or covered entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Information We Collect

PlainSpending does not require user registration or collect personal information directly. We use third-party analytics and advertising services that may collect certain information automatically.

Analytics

We use privacy-focused analytics (Umami) and Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use our site. This includes anonymous data such as pages visited, time spent on pages, browser type, and general geographic region. This data helps us improve the site and understand which content is most useful.

Advertising

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements. Google may use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your visits to this site and other sites on the Internet. You can learn more about how Google uses data at Google's Privacy & Terms.

Cookies

This site uses cookies for analytics and advertising purposes. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. In the European Economic Area, we obtain consent before setting non-essential cookies.

Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data, or to opt out of certain data processing activities. For California residents, we respect your rights under the CCPA, including the right to opt out of the sale of personal information.

Third-Party Links

Our site may contain links to external websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites.

Data Security

We implement reasonable security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or alteration of data. All connections to PlainSpending are encrypted using HTTPS.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.

Contact

For privacy-related questions, contact us at hello@plainspending.com.