Cookie Policy
Effective May 14, 2026.
This page lists every cookie or browser-storage item used by govspending.org, grouped by whether it requires your consent. The full privacy policy lives at /privacy/.
Always-on (strictly necessary)
These are set without a consent prompt because they are required for the site to remember settings you choose. No analytics, no third parties.
Stores your cookie/analytics consent choice so we don't show the banner again on every visit.
GOVSPENDING.ORG (first-party, localStorage) · Persistent until you clear browser storage or click "Reset" on the privacy page.
Loaded only after you accept
These are analytics cookies. They are NOT set on your browser unless you accept the consent banner. They are removed when you withdraw consent and clear site data. The durations below are the cookie lifetimes in your browser — distinct from how long the analytics provider keeps the resulting data (Google Analytics data retention is set to 14 months; see the privacy policy).
Distinguishes individual visitors so GA can produce session and page-view counts. Not linked to any personal identifier on our side.
Google Analytics 4 (G-7M9S1VNLGF) · 2 years (Google default).
Maintains GA4 session state for the specific GOVSPENDING.ORG measurement ID. One per container.
Google Analytics 4 (G-7M9S1VNLGF) · 2 years (Google default).
Distinguishes visitors and pageviews for the Ahrefs dashboard. Ahrefs documents the exact cookie names in their own privacy policy.
Ahrefs Web Analytics (analytics.ahrefs.com) · See Ahrefs privacy policy.
What we don’t use
We do not run advertising on this site, so no advertising cookies are present. We do not embed retargeting pixels (Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.), do not run A/B testing tools that drop cookies, do not use session-replay or heatmap services, and do not embed social-sharing widgets that load third-party scripts.
How to manage cookies
- Use the “Your current consent” controls on the privacy page to grant, deny, or reset your choice.
- Clear browser storage / cookies for govspending.org in your browser’s site settings to remove all our cookies; the consent banner will reappear on next visit.
- Block third-party cookies entirely in your browser settings — GA and Ahrefs will not load if you have that set, regardless of your choice on our banner.