Skip to main content

Security report for congress.gov

Library of Congress · Government · United States

Medium risk. 7 critical or high findings in Security headers, GDPR outside view and 1 other check.

Security score

68/100

Risk levelMedium

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

Congress.gov is the official website of the U.S. Congress, managed by the Library of Congress. It provides comprehensive legislative data, including bills, resolutions, Congressional Records, committee information, and member profiles. The site serves a broad audience including researchers, students, government officials, and the general public, offering authoritative and educational resources on the legislative process. The business model is a government information service, positioning itself as the primary source for U.S. legislative information online. Technically, the website employs modern JavaScript libraries such as jQuery and Bootstrap, integrates mapping capabilities via ArcGIS API, and uses Adobe's Dynamic Tag Management for analytics. The site is well-structured, mobile-optimized, and accessible, with good SEO practices. Performance is moderate, reflecting the complexity and volume of data served. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and avoids exposing sensitive data. However, explicit security headers and a public security policy or incident response page are absent. The WHOIS data is incomplete, likely due to .gov domain registry policies, but the domain and content strongly indicate legitimacy. Privacy compliance is limited, with no visible privacy or cookie policies on the homepage. Overall, Congress.gov is a highly credible and authoritative government resource with strong content quality and technical implementation. Strategic improvements include publishing clear privacy and cookie policies, enhancing security headers, and establishing a vulnerability disclosure program to further strengthen trust and compliance.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

7 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  2. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

    • High

      No Cookie Policy found

      GDPR requires clear information about cookie usage

      What to do: Add a dedicated cookie policy explaining cookie usage and purposes

    • High

      No Cookie Consent Banner found

      GDPR requires explicit consent for non-essential cookies

      What to do: Implement a cookie consent banner that appears on first visit

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching congress.gov

This scan found 20 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

Billed monthly to your card. Cancel anytime. The full timeline opens with your unlock code.

Full report

€39.90one-time

  • The complete analysis as a PDF you can cite
  • Email delivery with an unlock code
  • Lifetime access to this report

Prices incl. 21% VAT. Secure checkout by Mollie; sold by SEQ SIA, Latvia.

Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
65
Security headers
55
Email security
70
DNS health
80
Network security
100
GDPR outside view
35
Average
68

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

Congress.gov operates as a critical government platform providing legislative data and resources. Its market position is unique and authoritative, backed by the Library of Congress. The platform's competitive advantage lies in its official status, comprehensive data coverage, and educational resources. Revenue streams are not commercial but funded by government budgets. The target customer segments include academics, legal professionals, policymakers, and the public. Growth indicators include continuous updates for the current and historical Congresses and integration of advanced search and mapping tools. The partnership ecosystem includes technology providers like Esri for GIS and Adobe for analytics. Operationally, the site maintains a high standard of content accuracy and user experience, essential for government transparency and civic engagement.

Security posture

The security posture of Congress.gov is solid with mandatory HTTPS and no visible exposure of sensitive information. The use of modern frameworks and secure form handling suggests good baseline security practices. However, the absence of explicit security headers such as Content-Security-Policy and X-Frame-Options represents an area for improvement. No public incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is available, which could limit transparency in security incident handling. Compliance with privacy regulations appears minimal, with no visible privacy or cookie policies, which may be acceptable given the government nature but should be improved for transparency. Overall, the site demonstrates a mature security posture but could benefit from enhanced security communication and policy disclosures.

Recommendations

  1. Publish a comprehensive privacy policy and cookie policy to improve transparency and privacy compliance.
  2. Implement and disclose a security policy and incident response plan to enhance trust and preparedness.
  3. Add security headers such as Content-Security-Policy, X-Frame-Options, and X-Content-Type-Options to strengthen defense-in-depth.
  4. Establish a vulnerability disclosure program or security.txt file to encourage responsible reporting of security issues.
  5. Regularly review and update WHOIS information if possible to improve domain registration transparency.
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Library of Congress
Description
U.S. Congress legislation, Congressional Record debates, Members of Congress, legislative process educational resources presented by the Library of Congress
Key services
Legislation search and tracking, Congressional Record access, Committee information, Member profiles, Educational resources
Content quality
excellent
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap, ArcGIS JS API, YouTube iframe API, Adobe DTM (Dynamic Tag Management)
Frameworks
Bootstrap
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
good
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
85/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • No exposed sensitive data in HTML
  • Secure forms with CSRF protections implied by framework usage

Analytics and tracking

Services
Adobe DTM
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Tracking pixels
Adobe DTM
Marketing tools
Adobe DTM
Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
excellent
User experience
excellent
Content relevance
excellent
Navigation
excellent
Professionalism
excellent
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is an official U.S. government resource for legislative information.
  2. Content is comprehensive and well-structured for legislative research.
  3. No privacy or cookie policy explicitly found on the homepage HTML.
  4. Contact information is available via a contact page but no direct emails or phone numbers found in HTML.
  5. Uses modern JavaScript libraries and frameworks for UI and mapping.
  6. No signs of advertising or commercial tracking beyond Adobe DTM for analytics.
  7. No security policy or incident response information publicly visible.
  8. WHOIS data is incomplete, likely due to .gov domain registry policies.
  9. No WAF or blocking detected; site content fully accessible.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a modern technology stack including jQuery, Bootstrap, ArcGIS JavaScript API for mapping, and YouTube iframe API for video content. Adobe Dynamic Tag Management is used for analytics and tag control. The site is mobile-optimized and accessible, with proper meta tags for SEO and social sharing (Open Graph). Performance is moderate, likely due to the rich data and interactive features. No CMS is explicitly detected, suggesting a custom or government-managed platform. Hosting provider details are not visible. The site could improve by optimizing loading times and adding more robust security headers. Overall, the technical infrastructure supports a high-quality user experience suitable for a government information portal.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 71/100Medium27 findingsView report
Reviews of this site

Share your experience with congress.gov. Every review is verified by email and published after moderation.

Overall rating
Select a rating
4000 characters remaining

We’ll email you to confirm your review and keep your details private.

Community rating

No published reviews yet. Be the first to review congress.gov.

Feedback on this report

Rate this report, add an optional comment, and tell us if you want a security specialist to follow up.

Overall report quality
Select a rating
2000 characters remaining

We only use your feedback to improve Guard reports. Contact details are never shared.