GOV.UK GA access
This page details current policies and processes in place regarding access to web analytics data for www.gov.uk.
What we provide access to
When users request access to GOV.UK GA4 data, we grant:
- Analyst access to the GOV.UK GA4 Production property
- Read access to GOV.UK GA4 data in BigQuery, raw and flattened
- Read access to GOV.UK Search Console data in BigQuery
Notice that we only provide read access to BigQuery. Departments are expected to pay for their queries via their own Google Cloud project.
Who can be granted access
Employees of public sector organisations can be granted access to GOV.UK analytics data.
Access will only be granted to email accounts managed by the organisation. All prospective Google Analytics data users must have their work (non-gmail) email address connected to a Google account. These steps can be used to create a Google account using an existing work email address. Accounts linked to gmail or other non-public sector organisation email addresses will not be permitted access.
Every organisation should have an analytics Single Point of Contact (SPOC) nominated who raises requests and administers users.
There are no limits to the number of users that an organisation can request, but usage will be monitored and users who are inactive or whose activity is flagged as suspicious may be removed without warning.
Service accounts
Service accounts can be granted access to the same above resources when needed. All requests for service account access must come from a civil servant’s work address. We will closely monitor service account data usage to ensure quotas are not repeatedly hit.
Access request process
User administration is done within GDS by performance analysts using the user admin tool.
GDS staff
Requests for access to Google Analytics should be raised by team members themselves through the GDS Internal IT Support Tool. Requests should be raised under “GDS IT Requests” -> “People & Accounts” -> “Google Analytics”.
Other government employees
Analytics SPOCs should raise a request through the Analytics access, reports and help form.
If a department does not have an Analytics SPOC in place, one can be nominated.
Public servants from organisations without access to SignOn
SPOCs should contact the Analytics team with details of user administration requests.
Access request process diagram
The user access request process is as follows:
graph TD A[DEPT: Analytics SPOC raises request via Analytics support form behind Signon] --> B B[Zendesk: Ticket generated and sent to Analyst queue] B --> C[User added via the user admin tool] C --> D[User added to Basecamp] D --> E[Close ticket] A2[GDS: User raises request via Signon] --> B A3[Organisation without access to Signon: SPOC raises request via GOV.UK Analytics team] --> C
Monitoring and reporting
Usage of Google Analytics data is monitored by the GOV.UK Analytics team and any suspicious activity flagged. Reports will be provided to SPOCs showing the GOV.UK GA4 data usage of their organisation’s users.
Audits will be conducted regularly. Users that have been inactive for 6 months may be removed without warning.
Using the data
Data must only be used for Civil Service work.
Data must not be processed via third-party or cloud-based systems. Tools such as Excel Plugins and Python or R scripts may be authorised to access GA data provided that the system is running on your local machine.
Google Analytics (GA) is not designed for collecting personally identifiable information (PII), and collecting PII is against GA terms and conditions. If you notice PII in GA, please raise a Zendesk ticket as quickly as possible. More information on how we handle PII can be found in our PII process.
Google Analytics data is management information and not an official statistic. The Government Analysis Function has published guidance on the use of management information which may be of use.