--- title: "Set up and manage cookies" date: "2024-12-17T14:11:13+00:00" summary: "Learn how to set up and manage website cookies, including manual setup, scanning, and compliance with data privacy regulations." image: type: "page" url: "/web-governance/set-and-manage-cookies" id: "de504404-7f01-4987-956e-01ca8fda7260" --- Cookie setup ------------ This section provides instructions on how to manage cookies manually, for example, how to add cookies that are not detected by the scan. Note If a cookie is added manually and then it is later found by the scan, the source is not modified. 1. From the domain Dashboard, click **Data Privacy** (lock icon) on the menu bar. ![The location of the Data Privacy button on the domain toolbar.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/91bcff81-8996-4f5e-8c58-3d63971259ae/web/Mon_Opt_Dashboard-DataPrivacy.png) The _Data Privacy Page_ opens. 2. From the menu on the left, click **Consent Overview**. ![The location of the Consent Overview option on the left menu of the Data Privacy page.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/e588c2bc-a57e-421c-9b3b-def24dc82021/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-LeftMenu-ConsentOverview.png) The menu expands with the following options: * Cookie Acceptance Rate * Consent Log * Cookie Overview. 3. Click to select: * **Cookie Acceptance Rate** ![The location of the Cookie Acceptance Rate option on the left menu of the Data Privacy page.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/512eae0b-4260-48ca-83f1-adb6ca99eafc/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-LeftMenu-ConsentOverview-CookieAcceptanceRate.png) The _Cookie Acceptance Rate_ page opens. Here is an overview of the customer cookie acceptance rates. * The _Acceptance Rate by Category_ page shows acceptance rates by cookie categories. * The _Overall Acceptance Rate_ page shows a percentage of cookies accepted, as well as a graph chart with acceptance rates over time. * **Consent Log** ![The Consent Log option on the left menu of the Data Privacy page.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/d85bb5c2-0c91-4595-aabc-b5153ebd3d8e/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-LeftMenu-ConsentOverview-ConsentLog) This page lists IP addresses that interacted with the cookies on the website, shown in chart format. The log is kept on Web Governance servers for two years. The column headers are: * **IP Address**: The IP address of the computer that browsed the site. * **UUID**: The unique ID for the user device that received the cookie. Note This ID is gone from the user's device when the cookies on that device are deleted by the user. When the UUID is gone, the user can no longer request the record of the cookie consent. * **Location**: The country of origin that the user accessed the site from. * **Data Regulation**: The applicable regulation,: GDPR, CCPA, or both. * **Accepted cookies**: The cookie categories that the user accepted. * **Date**: The date that the user accepted the cookies. * **Cookie Overview** ![The location of the Cookie Overview selection in the left menu.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/b76624ef-8f14-4602-ac58-0a46bc7452a7/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-LeftMenu-ConsentOverview-CookieOverview.png) The table fields have the following columns: * **Category**: Click the drop-down arrow and select the category for the cookie. * **Essential**: These cookies are required to enable basic website functionality. **Note**_:_ Essential cookies cannot be deselected by the user. * **Basic** (Recommended): Allows users basic access to selected features such as Help Desk, and facilitates communication. * **Marketing**: These cookies are used to provide advertising that is tailored to the user and their particular interests. Marketing cookies can also be used to restrict the number of times an advertisement is displayed and to measure the efficacy of advertising campaigns. Advertising networks usually place marketing cookies with the website operator’s permission. * **Statistics**: These cookies allow website operators to identify technical issues and understand how a site is performing. They can also be used to see how visitors interact with the site and usually do not collect information that identifies visitors. * **Preferences**: These cookies allow the website to keep track of your choices (e.g. region, user name, language) in order to provide more personalized features. A website may, for example, provide local traffic information based on data stored about the current location of the user. * **Name**: Enter the name of the cookie, exactly as it appears in the HTML code. * **Domain**: Enter the domain of the cookie. * **Platform**: Add the name of the platform or the company who provides this cookie. Notes * This field automatically inherits the language value. * The first time that the scan populates cookies, the list only shows cookies that have been added manually and those that are present on the Web Governance database of common cookies. * **Description**: Enter a short description of the cookie. If needed for this step, use a web search engine search for the cookie name. * **Duration**: Enter the duration of the cookie. * **Delete** (trashcan icon): To remove a cookie, click the trashcan icon to delete the row. * **Error indicators**: * A red exclamation point on a row means that there is incomplete cookie data. Cookies that are not complete cannot be published or filtered, and are added to the user's browser automatically. It is important to complete the cookie setup. * A yellow question mark on a row means that the cookie was detected in previous scans but is not present in the most recent scan. Click the question mark to open a dialog box and handle the issues. Choose: * **Show anyway**: If the cookie was missed by the scan and you are sure the cookie is present, this is a good option to select. The cookie remains on the list. * **Ignore & hide**: Choose to ignore this cookie for now and hide it from the list. This is a good option if you suspect the cookie may appear again on the next scan. * **Save**. A dialog box opens with the message, "Cookie Overview Saved". Notes * 3rd party cookies that the scan finds have a domain and a path. These are unique identifiers for the cookie. * Users cannot edit the name, domain, or path of cookies that the scanner finds. * Users cannot manually create a cookie with a name that already exists for a cookie that is found by the scan. For more information, see the user guide article: [Data Privacy](https://docs.acquia.com/acquia-optimize/add-ons/data-privacy) Manage cookies with the scan ---------------------------- This section provides instructions on how to manage cookies that the Web Governance scan detects. To view the cookies that the scan found: 1. Click **Data Privacy** (lock icon) on the dashboard menu bar. 2. Select **Consent Overview** from the menu on the left side of the page. ![The location of the Consent Overview option on the left menu of the Data Privacy page.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/e588c2bc-a57e-421c-9b3b-def24dc82021/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-LeftMenu-ConsentOverview.png) The _Consent Overview_ page opens. This is an overview of user cookie acceptance rates, as well as the consent log that stores the cookie categories that the users have consented to. 3. From the expanded selecton on the left menu, select: * **Cookie Acceptance Rate** ![The location of the Cookie Acceptance Rate option on the left menu of the Data Privacy page.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/512eae0b-4260-48ca-83f1-adb6ca99eafc/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-LeftMenu-ConsentOverview-CookieAcceptanceRate.png) The _Cookie Acceptance Rate_ page opens and shows an overview of customer behavior towards cookies on the website. ![The](https://acquia.widen.net/content/527725ba-a6d4-4b57-ad25-9dfbebc183f1/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-CookieAcceptanceRatePage.png) * The _Acceptance Rate by Category_ page shows acceptance rates by cookie categories. * The _Overall Acceptance Rate_ page shows a percentage of cookies accepted, as well as a graph chart with acceptance rates over time. * **Consent Log** ![The Consent Log option on the left menu of the Data Privacy page.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/d85bb5c2-0c91-4595-aabc-b5153ebd3d8e/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-LeftMenu-ConsentOverview-ConsentLog) This page lists IP addresses that interacted with the cookies on the website, shown in chart format. The log is kept on our servers for two years. ![The Consent Log page in the Data Privacy module. The fields are described in the document text.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/aa059a46-dfb2-4651-97e3-60b15f28fd80/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-ConsentLogPage.png) * The column headers are: * **IP Address**: The IP address of the computer that browsed the site. * **UUID**: The unique ID for the user device that received the cookie. Note This ID is gone from the user's device when the cookies on that device are deleted by the user. When the UUID is gone, the user can no longer request the record of the cookie consent. * **Location**: The country of origin that the user accessed the site from. * **Data Regulation**: The applicable regulation, GDPR, CCPA, or both. * **Accepted cookies**: The cookie categories that the user accepted. * **Date**: The date that the user accepted the cookies. * **Cookie Overview** ![The location of the Cookie Overview selection in the left menu.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/b76624ef-8f14-4602-ac58-0a46bc7452a7/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-LeftMenu-ConsentOverview-CookieOverview.png) This page provides information about the cookie acceptance rates by users. The _Cookie Overview_ page opens. ![The Cookie Overview page.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/9bb66e24-dcd8-4f0f-9e42-5105b20fd559/web/Mon_Opt_DataPrivacy-CookieOverviewPage.png) * **Scan Domain:** Click to start a cookie scan. The **Scan in progress** message appears and the scan icon spins until the scan is complete. * **Include Cookies**: Cookies that the scan detects are in the cookie list but may be only partially complete. The icons indicate: * A green check mark indicates that the cookie is a common cookie and our system populated the fields from our internal repository. * A red exclamation point on a row means that there is incomplete cookie data. Cookies that are not complete cannot be published or filtered, and are added to the user's browser automatically. It is important to complete the cookie setup. * A yellow question mark on a row means that the cookie was detected in previous scans but is not present in the most recent scan. Click the question mark to open a dialog box and handle the issues. Choose: * **Show anyway**: Even though the cookie was missed by the scan, if you are sure this cookie is present then select this option. The cookie remains on the list. * **Ignore & hide**: Choose to ignore this cookie for now and hide it from the list. Choose this option if the cookie may appear again on the next scan. * **Delete**: Click to delete the cookie from the list. It will appear again after a new scan if the scanner still finds it. Notes * On the left side of the cookie, an icon of a person pointing indicates a cookie that was added to the list manually. * If this is the first time that the scan populates cookies, the list only shows manually added cookies and those that are present in our database of common cookies. * **Category**: Click the drop-down arrow and select the category for the cookie. The categories are: * **Essential**: These cookies are required to enable basic website functionality. _Note:_ Essential cookies cannot be deselected by the user. * **Basic** (Recommended): Allows users basic access to selected features such as Help Desk, and facilitates communication. * **Marketing**: These cookies are used to provide advertising that is tailored to the user and their particular interests. Marketing cookies can also be used to restrict the number of times an advertisement is displayed and to measure the efficacy of advertising campaigns. Advertising networks usually place marketing cookies with the website operator’s permission. * **Statistics**: These cookies allow website operators to identify technical issues and understand how a site is performing. They can also be used to see how visitors interact with the site and usually do not collect information that identifies visitors. * **Preferences**: These cookies allow the website to keep track of your choices (e.g. region, user name, language) in order to provide more personalized features. A website may, for example, provide local traffic information based on data stored about the current location of the user. * **Name**: The name of the cookie, exactly as it appears in the HTML code. * **Domain**: The domain for the cookie. * **Description**: Enter a short description of the cookie. If needed for this step, use a web search engine search for the cookie name. * **Duration**: The duration of the cookie. * **Delete**: To remove a cookie, click the trashcan icon to delete the row. * **\+ Add a cookie**: Click to insert a new empty row for a new cookie. * **Save**. A dialog box opens with the message, "Cookie Overview Saved". * Notes * 3rd party cookies that are found by the scan have a domain and a path listed. These are unique identifiers for the cookie. * It is not possible to edit the name, domain, or path of cookies found by the scanner. * It is not possible to manually create a cookie with a name that already exists for a cookie found by the scan. For more information, see the user guide article: [Data privacy](https://docs.acquia.com/acquia-optimize/add-ons/data-privacy).