GOV.UK GA4
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is used to collect data on the usage of GOV.UK.
This data can be accessed via the Google Analytics 4 user interface, the GA4 Looker Studio connection, and the Google Analytics Data API.
This data is also exported to BigQuery.
Information on how to understand and use this data can be found in the Analysis section of this site.
Content
Data was first collected into this property on 23/09/22. The events captured have changed significantly over time, and so early data quality may be patchy.
Data is collected from dataLayer pushes using Google Tag Manager, which applies any appropriate transformations to the data and then sends it to GA4. More information on the dataLayer pushes implemented on GOV.UK can be found in the Implementation record.
Access
GDS staff can request access to the GOV.UK GA4 data via the GDS helpdesk.
Data users across government can request access to the GOV.UK GA4 data via their organisation’s analytics SPOC. Organisations without SPOCs should contact the Analytics and Insights team. For more information, see the GA access policy.
Location
There are three GA4 GOV.UK properties. These correspond to the integration, staging, and production or live GOV.UK websites.
GA4 settings
Property set-up
At set-up, we chose the following reporting options:
- Reporting timezone of United Kingdom - (GMT+01:00) United Kingdom Time
- Currency is British Pound (£)
- Industry category of Law and Government
- Business size - Very Large
- When asked about our business objectives (which determines which standard reports GA4 will provide in the property), we chose ‘Get baseline reports’
No subproperties are set up for the GOV.UK GA4 properties. Instead, we are using BigQuery and Looker Studio to clean, filter, and control access to the data.
Data collection
GA4’s inbuilt ‘Enhanced measurement’ feature is not in use on GOV.UK as it was determined that it would not meet our data collection needs. However, default GA4 dimensions have been used wherever there is a clear fit to the event being captured to ensure that GDS will benefit from any default reporting functionality associated with those events and dimensions. Tracking has been implemented on GOV.UK using custom dataLayer pushes which are sent to GA4 with Google Tag Manager. More information on this approach can be found in our Implementation record.
Google Signals data collection and Ads personalisation is disabled for GDS GA4 properties within the interface. Both of these options are also disabled in Google Tag Manager, to ensure that these settings cannot be accidentally changed.
Granular location and device data collection is enabled to allow reporting on the city-level location and devices used by our users.
Data processing and modification
At present, we have not created any custom events or designated any events as key events (formerly known as conversions) within GA4. We have tested the custom event data import feature to ensure that it would meet our needs to join additional metadata to the events we collect, but have not yet implemented any custom data imports. More information on GOV.UK GA4 data modifications can be found in the Policies and processes section.
Expanded datasets are being used to reduce the impact of cardinality on various key reports. You can use the steps in this guidance to view the expanded datasets we have set up and to request new expanded datasets.
We are also not using GA4’s inbuilt data redaction feature on GOV.UK. Instead, we are applying redaction to strip out potential Personally Identifable Information (PII) from values before they are pushed to the dataLayer (see our documentation on this in GitHub). Additional PII redaction is also applied in Google Tag Manager as a fail-safe. If you spot any PII or other data that should not be present in the GA4 datasets, please raise a Zendesk ticket or contact the GA4 support inbox.
Retention
A data retention period for this data is set in the GA4 user interface. For the integration, staging, and production GOV.UK sites, this is set to 38 months.
Governance
The collection, storage, and use of this data is governed by a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). Public servants interested in this DPIA can request a copy from the GOV.UK Analytics team.