Are you interested in updating your privacy policy for compliance with the EU GDPR?
We try to make compliance related to Google Analytics for the EU GDPR as easy as possible. Read on for details you might need to include in your updated privacy policy.
This guide is part of our series on Getting Started with the EU Compliance Addon. Please see that link for the full instructions.
Please see the bottom of this guide for an important legal disclaimer.
You might also want to update your privacy policies to more explicitly cover Google Analytics such as to describe the various cookies used by it. For the latest information on cookies Google Analytics uses, see their documentation (we provide the below table for convenience only and do not guarantee accuracy).
Below is a table explaining the various Google Analytics cookies, and their purposes:
| Cookie Name | Expiration Time | Description | Which MonsterInsights Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | 2 years | Used to distinguish users. Stores the ClientID, a unique and randomly generated string, so that the user can be associated on future visits, the date of first visit and version of GA cookie. | All Users |
| _gid | 24 hours | Stores the ClientID | All Users |
| _gat | 1 minute | Throttles the number of requests a user does to Google Analytics’s servers | All Users |
| ga-disable-{YOUR UA CODE} | Never | If a user opts out via MonsterInsights’s opt out system or the official Google do not track methods, this cookie prevents Google Analytics from tracking the user. | All Users |
| AMP_TOKEN | 30 seconds – 1 year (varies) | Identifies a user who was first given a ClientID on an AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page) version of your site. The length of time stored varies, with users who visit the AMP page first, and visit more frequently getting higher durations. | AMP Addon Users |
| __utmx | 18 months | For users utilizing Google Analytics’s Content Experiments feature, this cookie determines if a user is included in an experiment. | MI users using Content Experiments |
| __utmxx | 18 months | For users utilizing Google Analytics’s Content Experiments feature, this cookie determines when a user’s experiment ends. | MI users using Content Experiments |
That’s it! Now you know all the Cookies Google Analytics uses for site tracking.
Please see our complete guide: Getting Started with the EU Compliance Addon for more detailed instructions on your compliance with the EU GDPR for your Google Analytics tracking.
Legal Disclaimer: This addon is designed to automate some of the settings change required to be in compliance with various EU laws however due to the dynamic nature of websites, no plugin can offer 100% legal compliance. Please consult a specialist internet law attorney to determine if you are in compliance with all applicable laws for your jurisdictions and your use cases.
As a website operator, it is solely your responsibility to ensure that you are in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations governing your use of our plugin.
MonsterInsights, its employees/contractors, and other affiliated parties are not lawyers. Any advice given in our support, documentation, website, other mediums or through our services/products should not be considered legal advice and is for informational and/or educational purposes only and are not guaranteed to be correct, complete or up-to-date, and do not constitute creating/entering an Attorney-Client relationship.