Google Analytics Opt-Out
Last Updated:
Why should we opt-out?
To best separate our product team's activity from veterans, their families, and other users of VA.gov, we ask all product teams and other internal VA staff to opt-out of tracking in their device browsers.
Please take a minute to visit this link on any desktop, smartphone, or tablet browser that you might use to test on the production site:
How the Opt-Out Process Works
By clicking on the above link, it will set a cookie that allows us to distinguish you as a VA.gov Internal User. Google Analytics then filters out any browser with an Internal User cookie.
This cookie will expire in 365 days. If you clear cookies often, you'll have to visit this link again – maybe bookmark it – to opt-out of tracking.
Tracking on Non-Production Environments
The cookie is only used on the Production site to filter out Internal Users. All activity on non-production environments is tracked so we can QA the Google Analytics data before it reaches production.
Does being on a VPN affect my data in Google Analytics?
While a VPN itself will probably not affect our analytics opt-out or modify the cookies we use to identify you, a VPN may affect the data we record in Google Analytics. Specifically, location or geo data can be inaccurate and constantly changing.
Please note that some VPN software includes additional browser extensions that may clear or block cookies.
Help and feedback
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