Privacy Policy

Effective March 26, 2026

What This Site Is

American Default Research (americandefault.org) is an independent, nonpartisan data project that tracks household financial distress in the United States. We publish the American Distress Index (ADI) and related economic indicators using publicly available federal data.

We do not sell products, run advertising, or paywall any data.

Data We Collect

Analytics

We use privacy-focused analytics to understand how visitors use the site. We do not use Google Analytics. Our analytics do not use cookies, do not track individuals across sites, and do not collect personally identifiable information. Aggregate data (page views, referral sources, browser type) helps us improve the site.

Email Subscriptions

If you voluntarily subscribe to our email updates, we collect your email address. We use Buttondown to manage email subscriptions. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email. We never share, sell, or rent your email address to anyone.

Interactive Tools

Some tools on this site (the exposure check quiz, financial worksheet, tariff calculator) process information you enter. This information is processed entirely in your browser. We do not send it to our servers or store it anywhere.

Polls

Anonymous poll responses are stored without any identifying information. We cannot connect a poll response to a specific visitor.

Cookies

This site does not use tracking cookies. If you create an account, a session cookie is used to keep you signed in. No third-party advertising or tracking cookies are set.

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

We do not use social media tracking pixels, retargeting, or any advertising networks.

Data Sharing

We do not sell, rent, or share personal information with anyone. Period.

All economic data published on this site comes from public federal sources (FRED, BLS, Census Bureau, NY Fed, and others) and is freely available.

Children

This site is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children.

Your Rights

You can request deletion of your email subscription at any time by unsubscribing or contacting us. If you have an account, you can delete it from your account settings.

Changes

If we change this policy, we will update the effective date at the top. Material changes will be noted on the site.

Contact

Questions about this policy: privacy@americandefault.org