Privacy Policy & Cookie Disclosures
Hidden in Plain Sight is committed to transparent, privacy-first journalism. This policy details how we handle visitor information, maintain strict consent boundaries, work with advertising and affiliate partners, and safeguard your rights.
1. Core Privacy Principles
Hidden in Plain Sight ("we," "our," or "the publication") operates discoverplainsight.com as an independent digital field publication dedicated to architectural history, urban exploration, and cultural documentation.
You can explore all published stories, interactive city field guides, and map records without creating an account or providing an email address.
Optional analytics and advertising cookies are strictly disabled by default until you affirmatively grant consent in our consent manager.
2. Web Analytics & Google Consent Mode v2
To understand which city guides and architectural investigations resonate with our audience, we use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) with Google Consent Mode v2 and IP anonymization enabled.
- Default State: First-time visitors automatically start with
analytics_storage: 'denied'. No GA4 tracking cookies are deposited on your device without opt-in consent. - IP Anonymization: IP addresses are truncated at the earliest ingestion stage and never stored in full.
- Privacy-Preserving Telemetry: We use Vercel Analytics for aggregate, cookie-free page performance metrics that do not track individuals across sites or store persistent identifiers.
3. Google AdSense & Advertising Technology Disclosures
Hidden in Plain Sight participates in the Google AdSense publisher program (Publisher ID: ca-pub-9746501921779845). When advertising is active, Google and third-party advertising technology partners serve advertisements on our publication.
Third-Party Cookie & Identifier Disclosures
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies, device identifiers, and web beacons to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites on the internet.
- Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the Internet.
- Users may opt out of personalized advertising at any time by visiting Google Ads Settings .
- Alternatively, you can opt out of third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page at optout.networkadvertising.org or the Digital Advertising Alliance at optout.aboutads.info .
Seller Authorization (ads.txt): In compliance with the IAB Tech Lab Ads.txt initiative, our official seller authorization records are publicly accessible at /ads.txt.
4. Affiliate Monetization & FTC Disclosures (16 CFR § 255)
To sustain our investigative historical research and ongoing field photography, Hidden in Plain Sight participates in curated travel affiliate partnerships with verified providers:
- Expedia Group: We feature search modules and hotel recommendation banners for accommodations in our launch cities (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami).
- Viator (Tripadvisor Group): We feature curated historical walking tours, architectural river cruises, and museum admissions relevant to specific articles.
Editorial Independence: If you click on an affiliate partner link and complete a booking, we may earn a small referral commission at no additional cost to you. Commercial relationships never influence our editorial coverage, story selection, or historical conclusions.
5. Managing Your Consent & Cookie Preferences
You maintain complete control over non-essential cookies. You can inspect or modify your choices at any time by clicking the "Cookie Preferences" link located in the footer of every page on this website.
Cookie Categories We Use
Essential / Strictly Necessary: Dark mode preference (theme), CSRF defense tokens, and consent preference storage (hips_analytics_consent, hips_ad_consent). These do not track you across the web and cannot be disabled.
Analytics (Optional): Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*). Requires prior opt-in consent.
Advertising (Optional): Google AdSense & advertising network identifiers. Disabled by default; requires affirmative consent.
6. International & US State Privacy Rights
European Economic Area (EEA), UK, and Switzerland (GDPR / UK-GDPR & TCF v2.2)
If you reside in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you possess statutory rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, including the right to access, rectify, or erase any personal data we hold; the right to restrict or object to processing; and the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority.
In accordance with Google publisher policies, serving advertising to EEA/UK/Swiss visitors requires a Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) that integrates with the IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF v2.2). When such a CMP is active, European consent is managed directly through the certified framework rather than standard site toggles.
California Residents (CCPA / CPRA)
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act, California residents have the right to request disclosure of personal information collected, request deletion, and opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal information. Hidden in Plain Sight does not sell personal information for monetary consideration.
7. Contact the Privacy Team
If you have questions regarding this privacy policy, data practices, or wish to exercise statutory privacy rights, please reach out via our editorial desk: