[UA] Security and privacy in Universal Analytics [Legacy]

You are viewing a legacy article about Universal Analytics. Learn more about Google Analytics 4 replacing Universal Analytics.

A change in technology can sometimes mean a change in policy. While we haven’t changed our security and privacy principles very much, there is some information you need to review:

  • Your data is secure with Universal Analytics.
    Universal Analytics adds features to Analytics, but our privacy commitments haven’t changed. Safeguards like IP masking, the Analytics browser opt-out add-on, data confidentiality, and security work with analytics.js, the Universal Analytics JavaScript library.
  • First-party cookie storage is minimized in analytics.js.
    The information stored in the local first-party cookie is reduced for analytics.js. Only an identifier made up of two randomly generated 32-bit numbers (e.g., 12345.67890) is used. Clearing or deleting cookies from a browser does not ensure that subsequent visits to a website will be considered new sessions in Analytics. Learn more about how to opt-out from Analytics.
  • Find out if a site uses Universal Analytics.
    It’s easy to tell if a website is using Analytics, including Universal Analytics. You can use developer tools built into most modern browsers to check if a web page uses Analytics. Note that it’s possible for a page to use both the classic Analytics (ga.js) and the Universal Analytics (analytics.js) JavaScript libraries at the same time.
  • Universal Analytics supports the Measurement Protocol.
    Universal Analytics introduces new collection technologies to Analytics, including the Measurement Protocol. Any site, app, or other digital device or service that implements the collection methods and/or features of the Measurement Protocol is responsible for providing notice and choice to users and customers according to our Measurement Protocol Policy. In case you use a service that has implemented the Measurement Protocol, please check the notice given and choice offered by this service directly with the Analytics customer using such service, as the opt-out directly provided by Analytics does not affect data reported through the Measurement Protocol.
  • Universal Analytics supports data collection without browser cookies.
    The Universal Analytics collection methods (analytics.js and the Measurement Protocol) can be implemented and used to collect user interaction data without cookies. Learn more about how to opt-out from Analytics.

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