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Create tracker categories and manage trackers in tracker scanning (preview)

  • Article

Tracker categories in tracker scanning are used to organize trackers. Tracker categories are also used in consent model interactions within Microsoft Priva Consent Management (preview). You need to set up tracker categories before you can categorize trackers that are added manually or identified through a scan. When you categorize all trackers, you help ensure that when site visitors use Priva consent models, only consented trackers are allowed and a complete inventory of tracker technologies is captured.

Tracker management page

The Tracker management page in tracker scanning is where you manage and categorize your trackers.

  • The Trackers tab lists the trackers on your organization’s websites that were created manually or identified through a compliance scan of a registered website. Select a tracker name from the list to view its details page, where you can edit properties and associate it to a tracker category.

  • The Tracker categories tab displays your tracker categories and is where you add new categories or translations.

  • The Common tracker database tab is a reference list of trackers commonly used on websites. (The Tracker library page is a list of trackers that your organization curates to assist in approved tracker configurations.)

Tracker details page

Each tracker has a details page that indicates its category, a description, and lists the websites on which it was found. From here, you can categorize the tracker and edit its properties.

To view a tracker details page, go to the Tracker management page in tracker scanning, and on the Trackers tab, select a tracker name from the list. You can view a tracker's domain in the title on the tracker's details page. Hover over the page title to display the full text of the tracker name and tracker domain separated with a |.

Essential tracker categories

It’s important to designate which trackers are required for a website’s functionality so that you can build your consent models in consent management appropriately. When you create tracker categories, you’re asked whether to mark them as Essential. When trackers are associated with a category marked Essential, those trackers will always deploy regardless of a site visitor’s consent choices. Alternatively, if Essential isn't selected, this category can be used for nonessential purposes.

Create tracker categories

Follow these steps to create tracker categories:

  1. On the Tracker management page, select the Tracker categories tab and select New tracker category.

  2. On the Add tracker category flyout pane, add a name for the category (for example, Advertising or Functional). This is a public-facing name that's displayed in a consent banner.

  3. At Use guidelines, enter brief, internal-facing guidance about the appropriate use of trackers associated with the category.

  4. At Owner, enter the name of the user who owns the category.

  5. Select the Essential box if you want all trackers associated with the category to be considered essential.

  6. Select Save.

The tracker category is created and now appears on a tile on the Tracker management page. Each category tile displays the description and the number of translations. The category tile also displays domains. If there’s at least one domain noted, this indicates that a tracker with the same name but a different domain has been categorized as that category.

Select a category’s tile to open its details page. From here, you can view associated trackers and add and view translations.

Add translations to categories

You can add language translations to tracker categories. Translations can be imported or added manually, following the same process for adding translations to consent models.

To add a translation:

  1. On the Tracker management page, go to the Tracker categories tab and select a tracker category.

  2. Select New translation, then select one of the options:

    • Manual translation
    • Import translations
    • Auto translation

  3. Follow the steps for adding translations for consent models.

Categorize trackers

After creating tracker categories, you can then apply a category to trackers identified through scanning a registered website. Trackers can only be assigned to one category.

Important

Categorizing all trackers is critical for the use of consent models in consent management.

Follow the steps below to categorize a tracker:

  1. On the Trackers tab of Tracker management page, select a tracker from the list.

  2. On the tracker’s details page, select Categorize.

  3. On the Categorize flyout pane, select a category, then select Apply.

The tracker details page now lists the category you added under Tracker category. Once a tracker is categorized, the tracker applies the categorization to any future scans.

Note

If you edit a tracker to change its category, the results of previous scans won’t be altered to reflect the updated category.

Add a tracker manually

When trackers are detected in scans of registered websites, they’re listed on the Trackers tab of the Tracker management page. Some trackers might not be detectable by the scan; in such instances, you can manually add trackers to your list of trackers by following the steps below.

Note

During preview, cookies are the only tracker technology that you can add manually.

  1. On the Trackers tab of the Tracker management page, select New tracker.

  2. In the New tracker window, enter Basic details: Name and description, the domain of a website that contains the tracker, and select a user to be the owner. Then select Next.

  3. At Tracker category, select the appropriate category for the tracker, then select Save.

You arrive on the details page for the tracker you created.

Edit a tracker

You can edit a tracker to give it a more friendly name in place of the long alphanumeric name identified in a scan. You can add or update its description and owner. The tracker technology isn't changeable.

To edit a tracker, select a tracker name from the Trackers tab on the Tracker management page. On the tracker's details page, select Edit, make updates on the Edit flyout pane, then select Save.

Tracker library

The Tracker library page is a list of trackers curated by your organization. The library helps foster proactive compliance by allowing privacy teams to communicate preapproved trackers for web engineers to meet business needs. With the tracker library, developers can draw from a list of trackers used by the organization that have already been categorized for specific, approved Type of uses instead of resorting to open source or unapproved third-party trackers. If a tracker needed by engineering isn’t found, or a type of use isn’t listed, the organization’s compliance office can then step in to provide guidance to approve trackers before deployment.

The list of trackers on the page is divided into expandable headers based on the tracker categories set up by your organization, and the categories in the common tracker database.

The list of trackers in the library features the tracker name, description, and source. The Source values are either:

  • Scanned- found by a scan of one of your registered websites;
  • Imported - created manually; or
  • System - derived from the common tracker database.

Promoting a tracker adds it to the list in the tracker library. To add a tracker to the library, follow these steps:

  1. On the Tracker library page, select Manage promoted trackers.

  2. On the Add promoted trackers flyout pane, find the tracker you want to promote by selecting the Your trackers tab to find trackers discovered by scans or created manually. You can also use the Common trackers tab to find trackers in the common tracker database. Select one or more trackers from lists. You can select multiple trackers from both tabs at the same time.

  3. When done, select Add.

The tracker library list now displays the trackers you promoted. To remove a tracker from the library, hover next to the tracker’s name in the list and select the X. The tracker is removed from the tracker library but isn’t deleted from the system.

Common tracker database

The Common tracker database tab on the Tracker management tab is an inventory of commonly used, third-party trackers for your organization to use as a reference. Because these common trackers aren’t categorized using your organization’s tracker categories, you can map them to the categories you create. The categories provided aren't a reflection of Microsoft or its methodologies; they're sourced directly from their respective sites.

The list of common trackers includes the following details about each tracker:

  • Tracker name: Part of the unique combination of fields comprising a tracker (name + domain + path); the specific value that would be discovered in a compliance scan and used to identify a tracker.

  • Domain: A free-text reference for all possible Tracker Name + Domain combinations; part of the unique combination of fields that comprise a tracker (name + domain + path). The path is consolidated under the domain.

  • Type of use: Similar to a tracker’s description of how the tracker is implemented; conveys the uses publicly disclosed by the tracker’s publisher, such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Google Analytics.

  • Default category: Category based on publicly available information. Category types with similar names are consolidated unless otherwise listed separately.

    Important

    These suggested categories are for reference only and should not be used to demonstrate compliance without legal review by your organization.

  • User-defined category: Your organization’s tracker category if using Map Categories; otherwise, this value displays as Unmapped.

  • Created at: The date and time when the record was created or last updated.

Map categories

To map common trackers to your organization’s tracker categories, follow these steps:

  1. On the Common tracker database tab of the Tracker Management page, select Map categories.

  2. On the Map tracker categories flyout pane, for each default category, denoted as (System), use the dropdown menu to select the category created by your organization that best matches the default category.

  3. When done, select Save.

The User-defined category column in the common tracker database now reflects the mapped categories. You might need to select Refresh to see the updates.

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