Privacy Policy.

This policy applies when you visit govdataconsulting.com, submit a website inquiry, communicate with GovData Consulting, or discuss or receive consulting and data services from us.

LocalGovIndex is a GovData Consulting product with its own product-specific privacy policy. When you use LocalGovIndex, its privacy policy applies to activities such as accounts, saved records, alerts, and use of the public civic index.

A client or project agreement may contain additional confidentiality, security, or data-handling terms. Those terms apply to the relevant engagement.

• Inquiries and communications: If you use a contact form, email us, or call us, we receive the information you provide. This can include your name, work email, organization, message, and the page or subject associated with the inquiry.
• Business and project information: During a prospective or active engagement, we may receive business contact details, project requirements, correspondence, contracts, billing records, system information, and data or documents supplied for the work.
• Website and security records: Our hosting and security infrastructure may record an IP address, request path, time, referrer, browser or user-agent information, and related technical details. Website forms also use basic submission and anti-spam signals.
• Analytics: We use Google Analytics to measure visits and site usage. Its standard implementation can collect session statistics, page interactions, approximate location, browser and device information, and a client identifier stored in a first-party _ga cookie. Google describes its practices in the Google Privacy Policy.
• Theme preference: If you select the light or dark theme, the site saves that choice in your browser's local storage under govdata-theme. Selecting Auto removes the saved preference.

Please do not send sensitive personal information through the general inquiry form unless it is necessary and we have agreed on an appropriate way to receive it.

• Respond to inquiries and communicate about requested services.
• Evaluate needs, prepare proposals, and scope, deliver, support, and administer consulting or data engagements.
• Operate, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the website and its forms.
• Measure site usage and understand which content and services are useful to visitors.
• Prevent spam, fraud, abuse, and other security problems.
• Maintain appropriate business records, comply with applicable obligations, and protect our rights and the rights of others.

We do not sell contact information submitted through this website or rent it for marketing lists. We may disclose information when reasonably needed to operate the business or deliver an authorized engagement, including:

• To service providers supporting hosting, email delivery, analytics, information technology, or professional services.
• To a client, contractor, or project collaborator when the disclosure is authorized and needed for the engagement.
• When required by law, legal process, or an enforceable government request.
• When reasonably necessary to investigate abuse, protect systems, enforce an agreement, or protect the rights, safety, or property of GovData Consulting or others.

Some GovData Consulting services use records published by government bodies and other lawful sources relevant to an engagement. Public records can contain personal information, including the names of officials, staff, vendors, applicants, speakers, and private citizens. Public availability does not mean that a record contains no personal information.

• Use: We may collect, normalize, search, analyze, summarize, and deliver public-source material for consulting work and data products.
• Provenance: We preserve references to originating sources where available. Government portals, documents, and links can change or disappear over time.
• Corrections and safety concerns: The originating agency is usually the authoritative source for correcting a public record. If a GovData Consulting output misstates a source, exposes sensitive contact information, or creates a specific safety concern, contact us with the relevant URL, source record, and a description of the issue.

Retention depends on the type of information and why it was collected. Inquiry and business correspondence may be kept while useful for the relationship and ordinary business records. Client and project information may be retained as needed to perform the work, satisfy an agreement, resolve disputes, maintain accounting or legal records, and protect systems. Analytics and technical records are retained according to operational needs and the settings of the services that process them. Public records and derived materials may remain in research, project, or product datasets.

We take reasonable administrative and technical steps to protect information in our custody. No internet transmission, email system, or storage method can be guaranteed completely secure.

• You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Google also provides a Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on.
• You can select Auto in the site's theme control to remove the saved theme preference.
• You may contact us to ask about, correct, or request deletion of personal information you submitted directly. We will evaluate requests in light of applicable law, contractual duties, security needs, and recordkeeping obligations.
• Requests concerning LocalGovIndex should follow the process in the LocalGovIndex privacy policy.

We may update this policy as the website, services, or legal requirements change. The date near the top of the page identifies the current version. If a change materially affects how we handle information already collected, we will provide additional notice when appropriate.