Privacy policy

Last updated

American Default Research publishes data about household finances at americandefault.org. Most of what we collect is about how the site is used: which pages people read and how they found them. We don't sell your information, and we don't share it for advertising.

When you visit the site

Our host's logs

The site runs on Cloudflare. Like any web host, Cloudflare handles each request your browser makes, including your IP address, the page you asked for, the time and your browser type, and it keeps its own logs.

Umami

We use Umami Cloud as cookieless web analytics. Umami's tracking code does not set cookies. It records:

  • the pages you visit, your browser and device type, your approximate country, and when you visit;
  • the page or site that sent you here, including the full referring web address when your browser sends it, and any campaign tags in the link;
  • when an AI assistant sent you here, the full referring address and, if that address or the link carries it, the question or prompt text, cut to 280 characters;
  • what you type into site search, cut to 100 characters, once you pause typing;
  • how far you scroll down a page, which links and buttons you click, and which files you download;
  • on each of these events, the page you are on, the page you first landed on during this visit, and the site that sent you. We keep the landing page and referring site in your browser's session storage, which clears when you close the tab.

Umami does not receive the name, email address or message you type into a form on the site.

Microsoft Clarity

We use Microsoft Clarity to see how pages display and how people move through them: clicks, scrolling and mouse movement, replayed as a session recording. Clarity masks what you type into form fields, and our newsletter and comment forms are also marked for masking. Clarity sets first-party and third-party cookies to connect the pages of a visit. We label each Clarity session with a random visit ID that contains no name, email or other contact details.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to count visits, see where they come from, and see which links, tools and buttons people use. We send the page's address without its query string, the referring site's origin, fixed labels for the action, and a short-lived random visit ID. Automatic form and site-search measurement is disabled, and we never send what you type. Google Analytics uses first-party cookies. Google signals and advertising personalization are turned off, and advertising consent is set to denied. Google Analytics doesn't load at all if your browser sends a Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track signal.

Our own visit log

The site also keeps its own simple visit log, so we can see which pages and tools are useful and where people get stuck. Your browser keeps a random visit ID that resets after 30 minutes without activity. With it, the site sends us the page you're on, how long you've been on it, how far you've scrolled, the links and tools you use, and the site that sent you (its origin only). Cloudflare adds your approximate city, region and country. We keep a one-way scrambled form of your IP address to group a visit's pages and block abuse, never the address itself.

To protect this log from forged traffic, pages also set ad_help_page_proof, a first-party HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Strict cookie scoped to Path=/api/ with a 20-minute lifetime. It carries a short-lived proof bound to the request IP and is used to protect the first-party help and tool telemetry channel. The raw IP is not stored in the cookie.

Our MCP server for AI tools

We run a public MCP server that lets AI assistants look up our data. It's hosted on Google Cloud, which logs each request. From those logs we keep only daily counts by type of client and a shortened IP prefix (the first three parts of the address), never the full address.

Where none of this runs

Umami, Clarity, Google Analytics and our visit log don't run on account, sign-in, registration or password pages, on admin and operator pages, or in the private Riley borrower workspace at /apply. They also skip browsers that identify themselves as automated.

The selling page's versions

The page for selling a house, /sell/, comes in three versions, and the boxes that link to it come in up to three wordings. To show you the same ones on every visit, the site sets two first-party cookies holding a single letter each: ad_sell_v (the page version) and ad_cta_w (the wording). Both are Secure, SameSite=Lax, at Path=/, and expire after 60 days. A third, ad_cta_geo, lasts one hour and records only whether the boxes may be shown where you are. We count views, steps, clicks and requests for each version and wording by day, with nothing that identifies you.

What we keep

Working visit-log records are kept for about 30 days. We keep cleaned copies of visit events, daily visit summaries and Clarity page timelines in private Cloudflare storage, so we can compare how the site changes over time. Those copies leave out raw IP addresses, query strings, anything typed into a form, contact details and private pages. A Clarity copy keeps page addresses and the timing of actions, not a full replay.

When you send us something

You only give us personal details if you choose to use one of these:

  • Asking about selling your house. The form on our page about selling, /sell/, sends your first name, email address, phone number, the home's address, and your answers about the home and your timing (such as its rough value, what you owe, how far behind you are and the best time to reach you) to Ross Kilburn by email. Your details go only to Ross, and to a real estate agent only if you agree to work with one. We keep the request for 90 days.
  • Newsletter. Your email address goes to Buttondown, which sends our newsletter, and we get a notice that you signed up. Every email has an unsubscribe link.
  • Polls. Indicator pages carry a one-question poll. Poll responses are pseudonymous, not anonymous. The poll does not ask for or store a name or contact details, and its duplicate-vote record does not store the raw IP address. To prevent duplicate votes, it derives a deterministic pseudonymous code from the request IP and keeps that code, the poll's topic and your selected answer for 30 days. Total vote counts may be kept longer.
  • Emailing yourself a result. Some tools, such as the foreclosure timeline, can email you a copy. We use your address to send that one email; it doesn't subscribe you.
  • Data and partnership inquiries. The form on our research page sends your name, organization, email and message to us so we can reply.
  • Directory listings. Professionals who ask to be listed in our directory send their organization's details and a contact name, email and phone so we can check the listing.
  • Accounts and comments. If you create an account, we store your name, email address and a scrambled form of your password. A sign-in cookie, __session, and a display cookie, __auth_state, keep you signed in for up to 30 days. Comments you post appear publicly with your name.
  • Email to us. If you write to one of our addresses, we keep your message so we can answer it.

The selling, newsletter, tool-email, inquiry and directory forms use Cloudflare Turnstile, a check that tells people from bots by looking at signals from your browser. Requests to these forms are also limited by IP address to stop abuse.

Cookies, in one place

  • Microsoft Clarity's cookies, first-party and third-party, to connect the pages of a visit.
  • Google Analytics' first-party cookies, unless your browser sends Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track.
  • ad_help_page_proof, for 20 minutes, to protect our visit log.
  • ad_sell_v and ad_cta_w, for 60 days, and ad_cta_geo, for one hour, to keep the selling page and its boxes the same for you.
  • __session and __auth_state, only if you sign in to an account.

Umami sets no cookies. We don't run advertising or retargeting, and we don't use social-media advertising pixels. You can block or delete cookies in your browser; the site still works without them.

Who helps us run the site

Sharing

We don't sell or rent personal information, and we don't share it for advertising. We share it only with the services listed above so they can do their jobs for us; for a selling request, with a real estate agent if you agree to work with one; and when the law requires it or we need to protect the site or someone's safety.

The economic data we publish comes from public sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, often retrieved through FRED, the St. Louis Fed's data service. It contains no information about you.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, state law may give you rights over your personal information. Whatever your state, you can ask us to:

  • tell you what personal information we hold about you, and give you a copy;
  • correct it;
  • delete it;
  • stop using it for any sale, sharing for advertising, or profiling. We don't do any of those, but you can still tell us to opt you out.

Write to privacy@americandefault.org and say what you'd like. We may ask you to confirm the request comes from you, for example by replying from the email address we have. You can also have someone you've authorized ask for you. We won't treat you differently for asking. Some records may need to be kept for security or legal reasons, and if so we'll tell you.

Because most visit data is tied only to a random ID, we often can't connect it to you. To limit it, you can block cookies, turn on Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track in your browser (Google Analytics then stays off), or use a content blocker. To leave the newsletter, use the unsubscribe link in any email.

Children

This site isn't meant for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their information.

Changes

When we change this policy, we update the date at the top of this page.

Contact

Questions about privacy: privacy@americandefault.org. Our terms and disclaimer cover the rest of how the site works.