Commercial independence and client confidentiality

Paid monitoring is designed to help fund the free public site — and it only works if both sides trust the wall between them. These are the standing rules.

A firewall, in writing

Monitoring clients get earlier, customized analysis of public records. They get no influence — and no advance warning — over what the public newsroom covers, including coverage of their own industries.

No client lists, ever

We do not publish, sell or casually share client identities. Contracts include a confidentiality clause, and references require written permission per use.

Public records stay public

Monitoring surfaces government information faster and more usefully. It never privatizes it: everything we analyze comes from public records that remain available to everyone, and the public site keeps explaining the big decisions free of charge.

Who we won’t work with

We decline monitoring contracts from political campaigns, PACs, and any client whose request would conflict with our editorial independence or public-service mission.